Sugar and Tomato Juice
by Gloria Patri
Summary: You were just that notsoaverage girl going through your notsoaverage memories one night, and then went to bed. Who knew that you'd wake up in the LAST place you'd ever expect?    [[KakashiOC]]
1. Tsumetai no yoru

**I just thought about something.  
I forgot to mention that Naruto isn't mine, yo. XD**

I do not own anything about Naruto, its characters and anything surrounding it. I'm not making any money by doing this stuff, people! If I was... I'd be filthy rich by now, yo! x3

**Naruto belong to Mashi-sempai(Masashi Kishimoto, for those of you who don't know him by his nickname xD)  
...and we all thank him for creating the manga. :3**

**And now, READ ON!!**

* * *

It was a normal day, like any other, right? But of course, for you, it hadn't been all that normal. Not only did you wind up having to save a dog from nearly being squashed in the middle of the srteet, but your OWN dog had suddenly decided that the garbage can in the kitchen was a lunch box. Not that his taking the garbage can for a lunch box was any different from the usual... But did he REALLY have to drag yesterday's leftover fish ALL OVER the place..?! It was your dog. Of course he did. He never did ANYTHING short from amazingly brilliant or infuriatingly stupid.

But, enough of mister Stupid Canine. Your day had been, in short terms, SUCKY. You nearly got hit by a car more than once, almost killed your dog after he forced you to pick up that stupid fish  
(yeah, you hate ANYTHING that comes from the sea), you almost fell out of an open window, your mother kept on yelling at you and your brother kept reminding you how horrible you were to eat steak fresh off a poor innocent... Well, whatever steak comes from. You always said cows, but your stupid brother always said it came from... Beef. Whatever. Same damn thing in your mind.

Which lead to the current situation: you were on the roof of your very modest house(you liked it up there even THOUGH there were enough leaves to make three other trees), staring down the srteet in front of you. Yeah, your brother had fallen off the roof once. He'd broken his left arm, too. TOO BAD he was left handed, right? You snickered lightly at the thought; your six years older brother, his left arm in a cast and TRYING(not the big letters) to write with his right hand. That was five years ago...

Did I mention you're twenty two? Well yeah. Not like you nedto know how old you are... Or what color your hair is, or what color your eyes are. You already know all that. If not, girl, you have a SERIOUS problem.

Now, back to you, shall we?

It was a cool July evening. God knows why, but the temperature suddenly dropped every night. Not like you ever questionned this; actually, you found it quite nice to be able to go outside at night and not suffocate because of the heat. It sort of reminded you your younger days. Sometimes, you'd climb up on the roof on the days your mom worked until nine. Your dad never really said a thing. In fact, if anynthing, he encouraged you. Not like he'd be one to talk anyways; he did the exact same thing when he was younger.

Letting yourself fall unto your back, you placed your hands behind your head, gazing up at the stars. You always had a passion for stars. Blamed your dad and his obsession with the moon for that one. Speaking of the devil, it was a full moon tonight. And the weird thing was, it was some weird shade of orangey pink... Freaky, would be the better word to describe it. But it would never beat the time when you where driving back home and the moon was almost bigger that the highway. THAT had been freaky.

Sighing, you closed your eyes, not really wanting to stare up at the stars anymore. Your mom wasn't due back for an other two hours. Not like she could do anything about your being on the roof. Ever since you turned eighteen, you could do ANYTHING you wanted.

As long as you paid half a grand every month. Yep! Your mom was nice enough to make you pay part of the rent, electricity bill and cable! It's only fair when you think about everything she paid for you when you were in school. Which you dropped out of because it was exessively BORING. No, you're not a prodigy, you're just easily bored. And considering you have a light case of Hyperactive ADD... Well let's say something has to be PRETTY interesting to keep YOUR focus. Like anime. THAT you could endure for days at a time.

Which you did, once... Anime marathon. You and the few anime-obsessed friends had a three-day anime marathon a few years back. Like you had anything else to do, anytways.

WHAT you'd watched? Well, a mix of Naruto, Inu-yasha(though you only rented the DVDs for a friend), Raxephon, Witch Hunter Robin, Bleach and Ouran Host club. Series that had NOTHING in common... But you all loved them.

Though you loved every single show(except Inu-Yasha, DURR), you couldn't help but think that Naruto SO pwned everything else. With shinobi, and chakra control, and the Kyuubi, and...! Aw man, you still chuckled at the thought of it. And this, in turn, reminded you of that anime convention you'd gone to that year. Of COURSE, it had been after the anime marathon. So, as fate would want it, you had dressed up as an ANBU. And if it hadn't been for the stupid convention rules, you SO would've stolen one of your brother's katanas. Though you had to stick with the classic staff. You smirked; you still had that old stick somewhere in your room.

Which, in urn, would explain why the heck you were on your roof dressed as an ANBU. You were nostalgic and wanted to remind yourself of the few anim-obsessed friends you loved. And had moved overseas. Damn Europe and its attractive flyers.

An hour had passed, maybe, since you'd first climbed onto the roof. It was starting to get a little frisky with ONLY your ANBU gear on. So, you went back into your room the way you had came out in the first place; through that blessed lilac infront of your window(your mom almost chopped it off one summer after finding out it was how you got out). Screening through the heaps of clothes on the floor of your room, you smirked as you found exactly what you were looking for; that ten-sizes-too-big grey polar your dad had given you, and the pair of jeans you had 'fixed up' to suit your summer need(which means you had just plain cut the thing to size). Crawling back out the window and onto the roof, you sighed contentedly as the cruled up, holding your knees against your chest.

'You shouldn't be up here so late.' A voice in your head muttered(also known as your conscience), but you shrugged it off. Like you'd ever listened to the damned thing anyways.

...Think it's why you nearly got hit by so many cars today? Yeah, well, didn't take a genius to figure THAT out...

That's when something shiny caught your eye, right in the eavsdrop. On all fours, you slowly crept to said white rain thingy, your hand probbing the leaf-full trail, until it finally reach something rounded... And THEN something sharp. You swore quietly under your breath, your hand returning to the rounded and SAFE part of whatever it was. Pulling it up, you grinned as you noticed it was a kunai.

So THAT'S where it had landed..!

_"No, really, stop throwing that thing..! You'll kill someone!" Nic called from his room window, to you, who was on the front lawn._

_"Shaddap! I need to focus!" you hissed back at your brother,turning back to the poor tree you were murdering with the sall little knife in your hand. HOW the hell you managed to get it sharpened(and how the freak no one ever confiscated it) was a secret only you knew._

_And no one knew what was about to happen when you'd throw the blasted kunai(keep in mind that you're only sixteen and VERY stupid). After throwing it, had bounced off the bird food thingy your dad had set up a few years prior, THEN against the gutter(ha, your mind sure is in there a lot!), skimmed a branch and then landed god-knows-where on the roof._

_"...Wow. I wouldn't have been able to do that even if I tried." You muttered, then swearing rahter loudly. You'd just lost your last(and ONLY) kunai!_

_"ALI! No swearing when I'm around!!" your mother yelled from inside, and you more than hurriedly went to the backyard and climbed up on the roof. Haha, mom. Haha._

You smirked at the memory yet again; your mom had been SOOOO pissed off at you that day! Not only had you played around with something sharp(when NO ONE trusted you with ANYTHING sharp), but you swore while she was around AND you climbed up on the roof! Oh yeah, you had got it that day.

Not like you actually gave a damn about thw hole thing. You just kept on messing with sharp stuff, swearin garound your mom and climbing up on the roof. Like you always did.

Your watch beep three times after a while, as you stared blankly at the time. Already two hours had passed..? Well, your mom should be back soon. Though you'd be going to bed now. Yeah, you were a little freaked out, since you never really went to bed before something like three in the morning. If not FIVE in the morning. But, egh. You were bored, internet was being an ass again, phone lines were down and you were tired of writing crappy fanfictions. Only thing you were left with were a few songs(more like 350 songs. That's just japanese.), your (self-proclaimed)crappy drawings, your boredom, your english-japanese dictionary and your boredom. It was pretty OBVIOUS what you'd do.

Sleep.

When you got through your window, you stared at your door for a while; it was littered with pictures of you and your friends, from back when you were in elementary and the first years of highschool. Fun times, especially the sleepovers and graduation parties. You sighed, mentally cursing your inability to go to bed without bidding your parents good night, and tuhs proceeded to the living room. Your dad was already in the couch watching Without a Trace reruns(DAMN The opening theme for that show is AWEOSME!). Whispering a faint good night and giving him a brief hug, you snatched a piece of paper from the recycling bin and scribbled a message for your mom.

_'Hope your day wasn't as crummy as mine. Nearly got hit by cars. Again. And saved a dog. Yay me! Don't worry, I'm fine. The stupid mutt didn't bite me and the cars didn't ACTUALLY hit me._

_Dad and I made some supper; your plate's in the micro-wave if you ever feel like eating it._

_Aishi nasai, _

_Yuuko_

After a content sigh, you let the message of the dinning room table and skimmered off you your room, taking care to strip yourself of your clothes(sleeping with clingy stuff is annoying, you always said), opened your window a tad o keep that cool air coming, and slipped under your covers, snuggling agains, yes, that cute white teddybear your brother had given you ages ago.

Flicking on your radio with the remote, starting your CD of Ikimono Gakari(on the song Sakura, of course), you sighed again, with a smile, and let yourself be brought to sleep with the most beautiful song you'd ever heard.


	2. Nandesu ka?

Three beeps. Three utterly loud and annoying beeps. You figured it was nine AM again, since your watch was timed to go off at nine. Night or morning. Which kind of irked you sometimes, seeing as you didn't HAVE to get up at nine. Like now, for instance. Add to the situation that you'd just woken up from a nightmare, and man kind had a perfectly pissed off(and potentially dangerous) you. Not like you'd ever so much as hurt a fly. Because, after all, you weren't allowed to fight in school. And you most CERTAINLY did NOT want to get kicked out at an early age(that, and your mom would've probably killled you anwyays). So you always stuck to practicing a few martial arts moves at home in your basement, which occasionned the few twisted ankles that only your dad seemed to understand. Bless that man for never ratting you out to your mom.

On a more important note, let's talk about that nightmare, shall we? Well yes, it hadn't been something you were very fond of. AND it was a nightmare you'd been having for a while now. Say... A month. Maybe a little more than that.

_A girl, sitting on a roof. Looks like you, sounds like you, but you know damn well it isn't you. Same hair color, same look in the eyes, same stance. But you KNOW it isn't you. So who the hell is it? You wonder. And when you're about to call out to this impersonator, get get up... Slips... And fall off the roof. To make things worse, this other you falls straight onto the pikes of a forgotten rake. But that's not FATAL, right? Well, guess again._

_Not everybody survives a few painful spikes in the throat, you know._

_Your mother comes screaming and crying seconds later, and your brother just stands there, and you can see he's crying. They already know 'you're' dead? Wow._

_Weirdest thing is that this PERSON actually DID NOT make any move to stop her fall. Almost like it was intentionnal..._

_Then your mother looks up at you. She yells something you don't catch. You want to call out, you want to move and talk, but you're firmly held in place by two strong arms, and something's covering your mouth._

_Andthen you FEEL a searing pain in your lower back. You freak, amnd start doupting this entire dream... And every time, someone whispers to your ear, "Wake up. You don't belong here." It FREAKED you OUT. Because you feel his(you know, male voices are deeper) breath on you ear, and, every time, the last thing you can remember seeing before waking up is falling. Probably from the roof, you can't really recall. Though you're not falling towards the ground, you're falling down into a river. And EVERY time, you're winded, and think you're going to drown, which might be why you always wake up breathless..._

But last night had been different. Now that you thought about it, that mystery man didn't whisper 'you don't belong here', but instead, he seemed to hug you from behind and sigh. What the FREAK was that aobut, you didn't know,and you didn't WANT to know. You hadn't chosen studying in photography instead of psychology for nothing, you know.

Your watch beeped. Again. Yeah, you had programmed it for nine AND nine o'five. Since you knew you never really wake up the first time ANYTHING tells you to. Which is why you need to be reminded to get up! You smirked at that thought, and let an arm fall heavily on the nightstand to your right, to shut off your alarm clock.

...Weird, it wasn't on. OR there for that matter. Oh well. Maybe it'd fallen overnight, and got unplugged for some reason. You made a mental note of that, though you were sure to forget it five minutes later. Yawning, you sighed ontentedly as you took a deep breath. You loved that weird MAN smell. It never was something you could put your finger on... Like a mix of really nice-smelling cologne, sandal wood and shampoo. Funny mix, but it sure smelled nice. Which brought to your attention the fact that your beddid NOT smell Man. But you shrugged it off mentally, thinking that you had migrated to your brother's old bed some time during the night. Ever since he moved away, you found yourself doing that a lot more.

Sighing one last time, you groaned and pushed yourself up with your arms, swearing rather loudly when your head hit something hard. Pretty much like some kind of a shelf. Well, that just scrapped the possiblity of your being in your brother's room...! And you most CERTAINLY were not in your father's room(aka the basement, since your mom can't ENDURE his overly-loud snoring). Your dad never wakes up early on the weekends. And we just happened to be Sunday. So this lead to the NEXT question:

WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!

Taking a shaky breath, you dared open an eye, your hands still rubbing the sore spot on your head from hen you'd hit the random shelf. You cracke open an eye... And met a dark ebony wall, and lo and behold, the stupid random shelf was inches above your head. Dang... Whoever lived here was trying to commit suicide every morning or something.

You wined a bit as unfiltered sunlight messed with your vision, sitting up on the bed you were in to stare at the wall.

And then you froze.

Okay, so you were expecting something weird. You ALWAYS expected the weirdest things when mornings started out weird. But this... Was just uncalled for.

On the shelf, there were two picture frames. And you knew FAR too well who they all were. Alongside the frames was a little plant(...pot, wtf) named Ukki(hey, it was written ON the pot), along with an orange book you'd already seen way too many times during your younger cosplay days, an alarm clock, and two notes pinned to the wall. Yeah, you knew where you'd seen this all before. But you still couldn't believe it. After all, if you WERE in HIS room, wouldn't he be here with you? Not like you actually took much of a liking to the idea, but it WAS just a quarter past nine. In the morning. And he was always late when something was set for eleven...

You looked around to make sure you really WERE where you thought you were. And, as fate would have it JUST for you, there WERE kunai, shuriken and green vests lying around here and there.

Damn.

You really WERE in Kakashi's room.

Well wait, maybe not. Maybe this was just a really obsessive cosplay. YEAH! Some guys would do ANYTHING just to get a few women in their bed... Yeeeeah, and you were one to talk? You shrugged and looked down in yourself; well, whatever had happened had left you relatively unscathed, and still in you underwear. Which were drenched. How the hell you'd gotten wet was far in the back of your mind.

Maybe you'd fallen int othe river? NAH. That was just a dream.

...Right?

You shrugged again and scanned the room for something... Well, moderately convenient to wear in the meanwhile. After all, if you WERE if some freaky cospayer's room, you weren't going to go venture his house almost NAKED now, were you? Didn't think so, no.

After a while of looking through the drawers, you finally found a black t-shirt(too large for you, so no need for pants), and wondered off out of the room, trying to make your steps as quiet as possible.

Eventually, you wound up in the kitchen. It DID smell pretty damn good, especially since it smelled like bacon and eggs... Though no one was there. And there was a plate of food still steaming, just WAITING for you to eat it. Though you hesitated. When if that dude had drugged it and wanted to rape you?

...Well damn, he'd rape you. You were WAY too hungry to refuse good food. And on that though, you plopped down on of the two chairs, and just as you were about ready to fork the foot and gobbled evyerhitng down, you noticed a note on the table.

"...That's weird. Rapists don't leave notes to the women they'Re about to drug and rape." You mused aloud; hey, there WAS no one home, right? Speaking of home, after a while, you realised it was an appartement. But it was nice and cozy, so like hell you cared.

_'Dear... Miss, _

_I left you some breakfast on the table. And don't worry, it's not drugged. I'll explain why you're here when I come back this afternoon. Meanwhile, please make yourself at home._

_Hatake-'_

"...Kakashi." You finished reading, letting the slip of paper fall to the ground. Oh yeah, like you'd believe all that. Like the POLICE would believe all this once you'd call them up to say you were kidnapped.

Though you thought over everything. Maybe you shouldn't call the cops and say you were kidnapped until AFTER you heard the guy's version of the facts. Though you'd still have to wait a major long time before THAT would happen. It WAS just half past nine! And if THIS guy was anything like the real Kakashi, he'd be late. Probably home by three or four in the afternoon.

Oh JOY.

You'd have seven hours to do absolutely NOTHING at all..! Maybe you'd sleep. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. And skip lunch, too. But the problem is, you weren't the least bit tired. Sighing, you placed the empty plate in the sink and headed... Well, for ONE of the doors in the hallway. One of them was bound to the be the-

"Bathroom!! Oh how I love thee." You sighed in glee, closing the door behind you and stripping of the few articles of clothing you had. If you were going to stay up, might as well take a shower and be REALLY awake, right?

You stepped into the shower, tilting your head as you decypheredthe stupid knobs for the cold and hot water. After swearing for a few minutes after you'd turned on the cold water ONLY, you yawned and sighed as the near-oiling water washed over you. You fiddled around, cheking the few bottles that were around you, when you found the shampoo. Already when you oepned the cap, you smiled childishly at the scent. Hey, it smelled GOOD. No wonder the pillow had such a frickin' nice smell!

And the bodywash smeleld just as good..! In fact, it sorta smelled like coconuts. It'd always been a smell that you swooned over. Damn, whoever this guy was had tastes that just made you want to marry him on the spot.

Not that you WOULD. Not like you'd give your brother the satisfaction of becoming an uncle before you could becom aunt! Well yeah, that joke goes back a long way from one really weird father's day at your grandparents'...

Slipping out of the shower after having spent twenty minutes under the steamy water, you groaned at your own stupidity when you remembered you hadn't brought a towel. Though you made an other mental note to thank 'Kakashi' for placing the towel on a shelf IN The bathroom. He must've been the forgetful type, too.

After towel-drying your hair, you slipped back into your underwear(even though the idea proFOUNDLY disgusted you) and the shirt you'd borrowed, and headed to the living room, which was joined to the dining room/kitchen.

Flopping down on the couch sounded like a good idea to you at the time, so that's exactly what you did. Though, after a whie, just sitting on a couch revealed itself to be VERY. VERY. Boring. Which is when a lightbulb went off in your mind. There WAS a book on the shelf back in the room... And even though it was probably rated M/NC-17/R, like hell you'd care. You were twenty two for pete's sake! Not like a little hentai would screw you up. Well, screw you up... Anymore than you already WERE. And your mental srew-up was hard to beat, lemme tell ya that.

You carefully snatched the orange book(and at that point, you wondered if 'Kakashi' had an other copy on him, or if he just wasn't all that much into his role) and skimmered ack to the living room where you layed back on the couch, bringing your legs up to your chest.

YAY lonely days of reading smut.

//----------------------------------\\

Dreams. You know, the good kind. The kind you LOVED because it reminded you of ALL the boyfriends you NEVER had! Well, point is, your dream had been HIGHLY influenced by the book you had fallen asleep on(and HOW you managed that is something the world will never know), Icha Icha Paradise.

But of course, all good, droll-worthy things have a bittersweet end. Which would imply that right about now, you were being shoved none too gently by SOMEONE. You groaned and muttered something you didn't quite catch yourself, but you figured it was somewhere along the lines of 'leave alone, I'm getting to the good part!', and then checked your watch.

Wow. It was just two in the afternoon. When the hell had you fallen asleep..? Last hing you remembered reading was page 69...

Heh. 69.

"I'm awake, I'm awake..! DAMN..." You growled, swatting the annoying hadn away and pushing yourself up on the couch, painfulyl unfolding your legs, which had pulled themselves closer to you when you'd toppled over.

"Ohayou." A cheery voice said, and you begrudgingly opened your eyes to look up at the person to whom the freakishly familiar voice belonged to. "Nice to see you haven't set the place on fire." He chuckled, though you only seemed to sink into the couch.

NO GUY can possibly have hair that sticks to the side like that NATURALLY. And, OH, lemme tell you that it didn't look like the wigs you saw cosplayers make and wear. This was the real thing. And then there was the forehead protector. And the 6"something height. And the nonchalant pose. The lazy curving eye.

"Holy crap what the freak did I do to deserve this?" you groaned mostly to yourself, not really caring wether or not the gu- KAKASHI heard you. For now, though, all you wanted to know was how the heck you had wound up in this shitty mess.

"I suppose you want me to tell you why you're here..?" Kakashi asked, the curve in his eye dissapearing as her crouched to face you. You nodded lightly, staring into the only eye you could see.

_He was passively walking around, as per usual, heading out to go meet Naruto and Sakura again, like he usually did. Nothing out of the ordinary, right? Though, when he started on the bridge, something to his left caught his attention. Which anoyed him somewhat, since he was getting at ONE of the various 'good parts' of his book. Though, when he stared at said object of distraction, he couldn'T help but think it was getting bigger, and bigger..._

_Of should he say THEY were getting bigger and bigger? Because ,after a whiel, it was made pretty clear that whatever that falling object was WASN'T an object, but a person. Narrowing his eyes and frowning. Kakashi did the only thing that had ran through his mind at that moment; jump over the bridge's railing and catch whoever was falling. Because if he didn't do it, WHO would?_

_The two bodies landed in the small river in a rathe loud and obnoxious splash, as Kakashi tried his best to soften the ladning. Not only for himself, but for he damel he helf in his arms._

_He shrugged, deciding it would be best to take her back home and lay her down before heading back to the rendez-vous point he'd set with Naruto and Sakura._

_They sure as hell wouldn't believe him THIS time, even if his excuse(A beautiful princess fell from the sky and I had to save her from a certain death) was a valid and truthful one..._

"Well that explains why I was drenched..." You sighed, running a hand through your hair. "And why I'm with you. But not why I'm HERE, specifically..." You shrugged, lookin gout the nearest window.

"And what would that mean"? Kakashi asked, almost making you laugh. Wow. Wasn't HE the fast one..?

"Uh, I fall from the sky randomly and you don't even question where I'm FROM? Wow, that's pathetic..." you snickered, but froze as a kunai found its way to the back of your neck. "I didn't mean I was from the Akatsuki you MORON!" you moaned, letting your head fall forward. "I mean I'm... From, uh, somewhere you don't know." You said, nodding to yourself, smiling sheepishly.

"...Then we're off to see Hokage-sama." Kakashi said dryly, withdrawing the kunai from behind your neck and stnading up once again. "Though you might want to wear a pair of pants first, though. Unless you'd want to go out like that..."

"PERV!" you growled, throwing the orange book you were reading a few hours before, and running to your-er, I mean, his room. And BOY were you happy to see the one thing you'd found last night, up on the roof. Dear Kunai, how you LOVED it.

Rummaging around Kakashi's room some more, you tried to find something... Not TOO slack to wear. Which was when your eyes fell on an abnormally large red scarf and a few rolls of bandagess. Yeah, you could work with that...!

A few minutes late,r you emerged from the room in a rather casual atitre; the shirt, even though it wasn't yours, had been SLIGHTLY adjusted. Meaning that you cut the sides pretty much like Ino's skirt, or the bottom of Sakura's old dress. The scarf you had used as an overly-large sash, like they used for kimonos, and you strapped your thighs with the bandages.

Classy.

Though you had no shoes to wear. Oh well. You never really were a shoes person to bgin with.

"And NOW I can go out and NOT look like a half-naked slut and explain everything to Tsunade-sama!" You exclaimed a little too childishly, letting Kakashi lead you through the spiderweb of streets that composed Konoha.

//----------------------------------\\

After you had arrived at the large round building, Kakashi had lead you to the double doors, but was instructed to stay outside. THAT you were thankful for. You'd feel as bad as heck(not to mention you'd probably die) if he learned that you were from a comepltely different world.

"So you say you're from a different WORLD? Apart from our completely, where chakra control never existed, and where our daily lives make a SHOW featuring Naruto?" Tusnade asked, pretty much resuming every you'd told her.

"Hai, sou desu. Though I have no clue how I got here. I just woke up here and learned I'd fallen in a river the first time Hatake-san saw me." You added, carefully using the suffixes necessary after the names.

"Well, I can't say this is the first time it's happened..." The Fifth sighed, screening through various stacks of papers, as if looking for something. "Since you already seem to know Kakashi, I suppose you'll be staying with him. As for clothes and food, Shizune will drop by some time tomorrow morning to give you enough money for a few days."

"Which means I'll have to find a way to make a living around here. That's what you were going to say, ne..?" You asked in a hushed tone, lowering your head.

"Well, seeing as training you as a kunoichi would take too much time, considering that we don't even know when you might go home... Yes, you'll have to find a job and make a living here, like everyone else." Tsunade replied, sighing as she finally found whatever sheet it was she was looking for, and readying her pen. "I'll have a few questions for you..."

**Name**: Hishimoto, Yuuko

**Age**: 22

**Gender**: FEmale

**Height**: 5"6'

**Weight**: 151 lbs

**Rank**: none

**Job**: none

**Adress**: Currenlty residing with Hatake Kakashi

**Vilalge of Birth**: Konoha


	3. Chouri wa atashi no tsumi ja nai!

So this is your life from now-on, right? You suddenly got dumped into a world you thought only existed in the head of a certain Masashi Kishimoto(you knew your anime!). And here you were, in Konoha, and in Kakashi Hatake's APPARTEMENT, no less. Wow. You sure had in good in your weird, screwy moments. Like that time you got hit by a car. Turns out that the driver was a super-sexy guy who got out of his car and escorted you to his place(since it was nearer). And he wasn't even interested in raping you! Yeah, you had stupid sheer luck when it came to weird situations.

Like being spotted by a twenty-something(six or eight?) year old super awesome AND handsome shinobi when you... Were falling... From the sky...

Yeah, did I say weird moments?

As of now, you were comfortably installed in the living room, on the couch, lazily flipping through the pages of the book that had proven to be quite the distraction for you. SURE, it contained sobjects and matters not suitable for a younger audience, but heck, you had nothing better to do that night. Not to mention that you(admittedly) had a twisted mind. And besides, Kakashi was right; the book DID have an interesting, albeit complexe, stoyline, and the characters were pretty intricate as well. SO why not enjoy a nice piece of litterature?

Did I mention you'd gone shopping that day? Yes, well, Kakashi had decided that you wouldn't be rummaging through his stuff anymore after he saw the condition in which his room had been left in. Let's say you had gone a litle crazy... And threw everything on the floor but ANYWAYS(not like you had any choice...). He'd taken you out, and(funny thing), people didn't actually stare at you because of how you LOOKED, more like who you were WITH. Well, that's the impression you got, anyways. You'd bought just a few things(seeing as you'd go crazy tomorrow after Shizune would stop by), one of which was the nightgown and silken bathrobe you were currently dressed in. And they felt FRICKIN' nice, seriously. You'd always dreamt of having a silk nightgown(tch, what girl in her right mind DOESN'T?), and now you had a nightgown, a bathrobe, an appartement you were sharing with probably the sexiest guy you'd seen so far, AND you were going to get a job tomorrow.

Yeah, you had the WEIRDEST yet most AWESOME life ever.

Your watch beeped three times. It was nine o'clock AGAIN. You sighed as you flipped the book to your right on the couch, yawning and stretching. Who knew that switching worlds and answering questions all day could be so damn tiring? Well, you did. Now, at least.

Sighing, you picked up the book again; at least, you WANTED to pick it back up, when you noticed it wasn't where you'd left it anymore.

"...I was reading that." You grumbled, crossing you arms and staring at the jounin you hadn't noticed had walked into the room. To reclaim his precious little book. You shrugged and looked away, to the nearest window. Which was to your left(just being specific here).

"And I have a few questions I'd like for you to answer." Kakashi said in a pleased tone, though you shivered at the intentions BEHIND that little happy voice. You KNEW it was fake. You'd watched the shows long enough to know very well that 'I have a few questions' + happy tone perplexed/angry Kakashi. And you'd have wnated to AVOID that a little longer.

"If it's about where I come from, I'm sorrym but Tsunade-sama strictly forbid me to reveal anything." You answered determinedly, though your confidance started wavering a bit. Oh yeah, that guy is tall. And when you're sitting on a LOW couch, he's even MORE freakishly tall. Which made you feel VERY puny, to say the least.

"Actually, it's about anything else but that." Kakashi replied with the same pleased tone, taking a seat uncomfortably close beside you. You inwardly sighed in relief, though. After all, he's a LOT smaller when he's sitting down thanwhen he's standing and loomin over you like a hawk.

"...Define anything else. I can talk for hours if I don't know WHAT I have to talk about..." You answered sheepishly, unconsciously scratching the back of your neck. Well, it's true; if Kakashi didn't specify WHAT he wanted you to talk about... You'd have to started from the very beginning of you. Which would mean your birth. And then work up gradually, passing through EVERY SINGLE weird event that's happened in your life. And trust me, you had enough weird events to fill up a few libraries.

"How about your age, what you like and what you dislike?" Kakashi offered, his eyes still curved in that indicating sign that he was smiling. Even though you never got how people couldn't imagine what his face was like... That mask was RALTIVELY taught over his face. You could even vaguely see his smile.

...Or was it a smirk?

"I'm twenty-two, I like people who don't question me too much and hate people who can't decide what to do with their lives." I replied casually, giving the smae smile that you could mistake for a smirk. But it really was a smirk. "But seriously." You chuckled a bit, smiling honestly. "I like a lot of things. Way too many for me to put down on a list. Like the different foods I like, the people I'm attached to, what I like to watch, what colors I like and all that... Though I really do hate people who don't know what to do with their lives. Seriously. They piss me off."

The 'discussion', which was really more like a monologue, continued on like this for about half an hour, when you had finally decided to enquire Kakashi about his own likes, dislikes, and maybe pry a little information on his past. Even though you knew a few things about him from the anime and bits of the manga you read in your spare time, you still wanted to hear his version of the facts.

Which would, it seems, never come.

"It's getting late." He finally declared, staring at you with that same blank and dull look in the single eye you could see. "You should get some rest, Yuuko-san." He added, and you cringed a bit when you heard '-san'. It made you sound so... So OLD!

"Please, just Yuuko..." You muttered, before sighing and getting up, realising you didn't really know where to go, "But, where AM I sleeping?" you finally asked, staring down at the silver-haired jounin. Oh, yeah, one of the questions you had asked him was about his hair... The outcome had been pretty funny on that one.

_"Why's your hair grey?" you asked after a few seconds of silence after he'd answered something about his lame excuses. Something about 'stick around and you'll find out'. You thought it'd be best to avoid that if possible._

_"...It's not grey, it's silver." He stated dryly, almost sounded offended. "And it's like that naturally." He scoffed, turning away as he crossed his arms._

_"Is it really as soft as people say it is?" You asked again, not really thinking of the answer you might give if he asked you where the hell you'd heard that. And he quirked a brow, too, but seemed to ignore that little bit of you hearing he had silky hair. Oh well._

_"Yes, it is. Run your hands through your own hair and you'll know-"_

_"OH MY GAWD!"_

_And then you fell off the couch._

"...In my room." Kakashi said simply, in that weird matter-of-a-fact tone, as if it was the most OBVIOUS thing in the world. Like you had asked a sstupid question that needed a not-so-stupid answer.

"...And you'll be sleeping..?" you asked again, a LITTLE scared of the answer on that one. You WERE dealing with the guy you had seen in cosplay chasing a girl around mumbling 'boobies'. Yeah, those ninja videos really made you laugh on rainy days.

"In my room. Where else?" He asnwered, as I could already see that stupid smug smirk on his face. Oh, I knew all too well where this was going.

"On a futon?" you asked AGAIN, narrowing your eyes and raissing a brow. Suspicion, suspicion... You seriously didn't trust the guy.

"Of course-"

Relieved sigh.

"Not."

Oh yeah, you were about the go into a nervous breakdown, smack Kakashi across the face, plunder him to the ground, burn every single one of the stupid Icha Icha novels(after having read them, of COURSE) and then spit on his rotting corpse.

But you'd have to actually be able you REACH him for that to ever happen. How sucky it is not to have gotten into those kendo and karate classes...

"I'm going to go see Tsunade and telling her you're sexually assaulting me if you really keep that up, Kakashi-SAMA." You growled, tightetning your arms seeing as they were already crossed. If they HADN'T been, you would've crossed them, 'humphed' and turned your head around. But all of that was already done, so yeah.

"Oi, I was just joking..." Kakashi sgiehd, running a ditraught hand through his hair. Man, how he didn't sigh in pure joy when he felt his hair was a mystery to you. You guessed he was used to it my now. Not like a certain other person in the room(-coughYOUcough-). "I'm sleeping on the couch."

"Now way! What if I'm attacked during the night?! What if someone knows I'm from an other-" oh shit, you thought. You went a LITTLE too far there, You inwardly smacked yourself a hundred times over, only wincing physically.

"...An other what? Country? People won't kill you because of that." Kakashi snickered, and you almost lunged forwards to strangle him. Thank god you had SOME self-control over yourself. Otherwise, a lot of people would already be dead. Notingly Tsunade(for asking so many damn pointless questions), Kakashi, your parents, cousins, friends, and MOSTLY your brother. DAMN did he ever piss you off! And it was constnant!

Augh.

"...Ooh, you don't know WHAT country... The Akatsuki would probably do anything to know what I know..." You muttered again, growled at yourself AGAIN, and this time, you really hit your head against the wall. Damn you and your overly-large mouth and talk-on-impulse habit. You'd seriously have to get rid of that as soon as humanly possible.

"...what DO you know?" Kakashi asked, in that tone that just SCREAMED 'Tell me what you know or I'm squeezing the answers out of you and THEN killing you'. And the thought wasn't really all that pleasant to you, to be honest. Not like the idea of being roughly handled by the sexiest man alive didn't sound that bad, but it's mostly the fact that you'd die afterwards that scared the heck out of you.

"A lot of things that Tsunade-sama told me not to tell. Otherwise I'll probably get killed. By you and by her, AND by anyone else who wants to know what I know. PLEASE don't kill me!" you whined, letting your head rest against the wal you had been hitting it on. Poor wall. What did it do to deserve this..? "And besides, I have to go rest. Oyasumi nasai!" You said in a cheery tone, heading back to the room you were going to borrow for...

A while, I guess.

//----------------------------------\\

Birds chirping again... Man, if there was one thing you hated early in the morning(your watch hadn't beeped yet, so it was before nine) was the sound of stupid little high-pitched birds singing. It seriously made your ears bleed. You'd almost killed one of those little house finches once, too. Which lead you do daydream about home. In Canada. And then your parents. Your mother had been to Japan a few times. Which would explain your name and the sparse japanese you knew. Though your father was french and english, your moom and english, french AND japanese. She was quite the looker back in the days.

And then she had two kids.

You snickered ightly at the though, thinking about how your mom would so TOTALLY be strangling you right now if she'd heard you saying that. Mom... Hm, you were starting to wonder if they even knew you were gone yet. Probably. She was probably freaking out right about now... Calling up everyone you knew, crying her ass off because nobody could find you...

Maybe they'd air your case on TV? Oh, maybe they'd make your story into an epsiode of Without a Trace..! That would be nice...

You yawned and rubbed the sleep out of your eyes for about five minutes, befor lifting your head... And eventually swearing a few times, holding the top of your head, just like yesterday. You would seriously have to make Kakashi swallow that damned shelf. How the HELL did he manage not to kill himself every day..?!

You sighed and looked down at your watch, swearing an other time when you saw it was only a few minutes past six in the freakin' MORNING. Groaning, you hesitantly got out of bed, knowing you wouldn't be able to get an other minute of sleep, and made your way to the living room, finding someone was already sleeping on the couch.

Come to think of it, you were expecting to trip on a futon in the morning, and you hadn't. Oh well. And least Hatake was nice enough to give you your privacy. You smiled lightly as he slept. Weird how his hand was conveniently place in front of his mouth and eye...

That's when reality brutally sank in.

He was there, on the couch, probably half-naked, no mask, no forehead protector, just... THERE. And sleeping, no less! The orange book started to run images through your head, but you shook them away violently, your eyes resting back on the hand covering the jounin's face. Oh, how you wanted to reach out and pull it away..! But, this wasn't one of those fanfictions of or This was, sadly, reality. And if you tried anything, he'd probably kill you on the spot. Dang. And you wanted to see his face so bad..!!

You sighed again and twirled around, heading for the kitchen. Might as well make some breakfast while you were at it. And get used to where everything was in the kitchen.

"...Great. I'm going to die of food poisoning before I can even get a job..!" You whined, hitting your head on the kitchen counter.


	4. Kanojo ga ore no kanaii da

Oh yeah. The entire world knew pretty well that your cooking relatively sucked. But not the people in Konoha. Well, not Kakashi more than anyone, since you'd told pretty much everything to Tsunade(she'd questionned you about what you could and COULDN'T do). In fact, you were planning on maybe getting a job at Ichiraku... But hey, you knew you were doomed now. The old man that runs the place doesn't hire people who don't know food. And you might like how it tastes, but you SURE AS HELL didn't know anything else about it.

So much for a fun job.

You sighed heavily as you let your head drop, ignoring the sizzle of the bacon in the pan for a few seconds, before, of course, remembering that you had to keep everyone alive and NOT burn the complex down. Then came the 'shlink' of the toaster and the sizzling of the eggs, too. Damn, so many fricken things at the same time! Yeah, no wonder you never cooked. The most simple breakfast was a pain in the ass for you, imagine STEAK. And cooking a flimsy steak is easy compared to what your mom used to do. And your brother. And your dad...

You sighed again. Would you ever be able to go home? Egh, maybe... Well, you HOPE. You sure as hell weren't planning on staying in Konoha forever.. Then again, how the hell would you get back? You wondered if there really WAS a clan with that special kekkei genkai, like the facfics said, that have the ability to switch dimensions.

...Whishful thinking, most likely.

"You should pay more attention to what you're doing, Yuuko-san." A voice whispered behind you, an arm tunring off the stove, reaching over your shoulder. And you nearly hit the person who had spoken with the pan of bacon. Before you realised that if you did that, all the bacon you'd worked so hard on cooking would be perfectly ruined.

"Damn you and your sneakiness! Tell me when you plan on giving me a heart attack.." You grumbled, shoving the jounin away and whipping out to plates and forks(you had studied the kitchen before you started cooking, just so youknow where everything is not to look like a coplete idiot). After garnishing said plates, you shoved one in Kakashi's hands and flopped dow on one of the chairs around the table.

"If you die of food poisoning, it's not me, it's the food." You warned, hungrily forking the food. Hey, can anyone BLAME you? How long has it been since you last ate, anyways?

Your stomach grumbled atthe thought. HM. You had skipped supper yesterday because you had slept though(and that evil Kakashi hadn't woken you up, argh), and hadn't bothered eating anything thinking you'd wake up at like, two in the morning to get something to eat. Well yeah, so much for that. Stupid brain woke you up at six instead. EIGHTEEN HOURS without eating. Craaaap. The most time you'd spent without food was like, six hours, at most. Man, you'd have to get used to this...

And then there was a knock on the door. Kakashi motionned to get up and answer, though you just shoved him back in his chair and went to the door yourself. Besides, it was probably just Shizune, right? Like you cared if SHE saw you in Kakashi's appart-

"...You're not Shizune."

"...You're not Kakashi..."

It took you a few seconds to register who was at the door, and an other few seconds to take in the fact that you were only in a silk nightgown and bathrobe. The hair at the back of your neck stood straight as you slammed the door shut, hearing the man(otherwise known as Genma) call 'oneesan!' behind it.

"K-Kakashi, whatever he asks, say it was an illusion. Something. Make up a creative excuse. Onegai shimasu?" You pleaded, you back stuck to the door. Which you had obviously locked.

Kakashi quirked a brow at you, and you knew right then he was smirking. Oh, that JACKASS. After wiping off Sasuke's smirk(which you'd do SOME day, since that guy smirks WAY too much for your liking) and making Naruto realise how damn obsesed Hinata is with him, you'd bash in Kakashi's face. HELLS yeah.

Sighing, the elder jounin pushed himself out of his chair(and you were gawking at him, since his plate almost looked as though it was licked clean), and then you skimmered away, out of sight of anyone at the door. Otherwise known as IN THE BATHROOM.

You heard indistinct conversation, and heard a few words. But mostly Genma asking question after question after QUESTION about who the hell I was. And you heard Kakashi fiddle around for words a bit, and you knew he had gotten Genma's attention. So you sneaked out of the bathroom quietly and peeked your head ast the hall just a bit, enough to see the two men conversing.

"Well, you see... She's my, uh, estranged wife."

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" you screamed, falling face-first into the kitchen floor. And apparently, you weren't the ONLY one to have screamed that, since, not ONLY was Genma totally ignoring you, but he was pointing at you all the while gawking at Kakahsi.

"An ESTRANGED wife?! Oh, come ON! You never TOLD anyone?! How did you even marry a Hime like her?!" Oh, princess. He called you princess. Arrogant bastard. You scoffed and sat up on the floor, crossing your arms.

And that's when you fell Kakashi glare at you. If he wanted you to shut up, he could've said it plain and simple instead of glaring at you like he wanted to kill you.

"ESTRANGED isn't exactly the right word..." You grumbled, looking away. "Stupid drunk accident. Nothing happened. I'm forced to live with him because I can't pay off my own stuff and my house was burned down a while back. Happy?" you lied, glaring at Genma, who, in turn, could only stare and blink at you, then Kakashi.

"DRUNK ACCIDENT. Your house burned down. No money." Genma echoed, scratching the back of his neck. "Well, uh, yeah, anyways, Kakashi... Just wanted to stop by to tell you Sakura's working at the hospital today with Tsunade, so no trianing."

"Why isn't Okawa taking care of this?" you asked, slamming your hands over your mouth. "Uh, nevermind I said any-"

"On a mission. He said he'd be back in a few days..." Genma sighed, turning around, leaving and closing the door behind him.

"...Drunk marriage accident?" Kakashi asked in a curious tone, crouching in front of me.

"Sure as hell beats your lame estranged wife. Like anyone would eve so much as believe that." you shrugged, still looking away. Well, it WAS true..! Your story had a lot more credibility than his. How else would Kakashi wind up with an average-looking, non-kunoichi wife, eh? It made a lot more sense. Not to mention that you having your 'house burned down and not having any money to pay anything' made it easier to swallow the fact that you were living with mister anti-emotionnal.

"More important thing is..." Kakashi started again in a deeper tone, and you knew he was going to talk about Okawa. Hoh crap. "How do you know about our ANBU messengers when you'Re from an outside country...?"

Damn. You knew something like this was going to happen. Again. Damn, you REALLY have to learn to shut up before you seriously get killed...

Well, anyways. Point is, you know Okawa. VERY well. After all, YOU'RE the one who had created him. He was your character. YOUR OC. Tsunade's favorite, so you said. The one she always sends around to give random messages.

...Who also happened to be Hitaru's brother. Otherwise know as you, most of the time. But know... You wondered if HITARU, in turn, existed as well

"...I... Know someone from Thunder who knows a few people here." You lied, looking straight up into that coal eye. Well, LYING'S a big word. You knew Fye. Fye Kurokawa. Your OTHER OC. Who might also be living in Konoha at the moment, and who ALSO knew Hitaru.

"Form the Thunder country? You're from around there?" Kakashi asked, his visible brow raising considerably. But HA, I already knew what to answer to that one.

"I never said I was from around there. I just said I knew someone from Thunder. For all you know, I might be from a country you don't even know about yet, where this person just happened to stop by." You replied, looking away again.

Damn. All this lying was startign to get on your nerves. But crap, you didn't have a choice..! Tsunade said that your information should stay confidential... And that, if you were ever asked, you should lie about anything that wouldn't drive people to think you really WERE from an other world.

But then again, if someone didn't think it was weird that you fell from the sky half naked, well crap, they had a serious mental problem.

"And just what country would that be?" Kakashi tried again, for the second time in two days. Damn, lying and keeping stuff from him was harder and more painful than you thought...

"Confidential. Not allowed to say. Tsunade-sama's orders." You said in a monotone voice, letting your shoulders slump as you pushed yourself off the floor. "Shizune should be dropping by soon, so I'll be out for a good part of the day." You said shortly as you went back to yo-Kakashi's room, obviously to change into the clothes you had bought yesterday.

Your clothes were pretty simple, nothing too extravagant to get yourself noticed. Just a dark-blue V-cut tunic, a nice black sash, black pants that you roleld to your knees, bandages around your right knee and left ankle(articulation problems run in the family), and black sandals to top it off. But those ninja-like sandals. Like hell you were to wear high-heels..! You never wore them at home, why waer them in the palce where you DON'T need the,,?!

You vaguely heard a knock at the door again, and what was unmistakably Shizune's voice. You smiled and rushed out of the room still barefooted, Greeting the older woman and taking the much-needed money with a bow and thanks beforeshe left.

"I don't a lot of women you are able to pull off something like that." Kakashi said, still sitting at the dinning room table. You figured he sat back in his chair after you came in.

"...Pull WHAT off? It's not like Shizune just did something ama-" you started, but found yourself interrupted by Kakashi.

"I'm not talking about Shizune, baka-chan." Kakashi smirked, slightly chuckling at you. "I was talking about the way you dress." He stated with a hidden smirk, and you silently fumed, but calmed down. Hey, you HAD just been complimented by the sexiest man alive.

"...Simple things for the simple and average girl, Kakashi-san!" You said cheerfully, before slipping into your sandals. "Ittekimasu!" You called, just before closing the door and bounding down the hallway, and reaching the outdoors. A day of shopping was EXACTLY what you needed to clear your mind a little. Heck, maybe it'd even soothe your homesickness a bit..! Hey, a girl can always hope, can't she?

//----------------------------------\\

"Maa, I guess this should be enough..." You sighed happily as you walked back to the appartment, having carefully taken large streets, and remembering the few striking things along the way to remember your way home. And you were thankful for that, otherwise you would've gotten SO lost amongst all the red roofs!

Seriously, Tsunade woulkd have to change a few things. Or maybe Naruto, if he became the next Hokage. They'd have to personnalize the buildings and make big sign here and there. People can get lost WAAAAAY too easily in this dump. Seriosuly. Like you! You weren't from aroudn the place, as seeing so many red roofs is... Dizzying, sometimes. You almost got lost once or twice, it it hadn't been for those noticable 'landbarks'.

Like the weird bush and the funny loking house.

"Tadaima!" I called throughout the house, heading towards Kakashi's room to drop the few bags I had and walking to the living room, where the silver-haired jounin was reading his book.

Well, in fact, he had fallen asleep on the thing, the bok covering his now uncovered Sharingan. You had the urge to just remove the shameful book from the wonderful scarred eye, but, again, you just sighed and told yourself you'd rather live healthy than have your arm crushed. But then again, this chance was just too tempting. You had passed out on it once, but twice..? Wasn't there a saying that goes a little like 'Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me'? Well, sure, it wasn't really the same thing, but... To heck with it, right?

You sat on the couch's armrest, looning over the jounin. Thought not a SINGLE thought ran through your mind exept "Do the contacts really look like the real thing?" Which brought up the Hyuuga topic. You'd have to find and harass Neji for him to stay around you long enough to observe his eyes carefully enough.

Slow was too slow for your non-patient self. And besides, if you were going to die, might as well make it quick and painless. So you pulled off the book, and noticed a pair of eyes boring straight through mine. Well CRAP. He was awake all along.

"...Why did you let me see it?" You asked i a suspicious tone, a little too wary of the outcome of this entire situation. You were SURE the perverted shinobi had some kind of a plan behind that stupid little mask of his... And it didn't feel good. At all.

"Because I felt like it." He said simply, and you scoffed, sitting back on the armrest. Like hell you'd believe that. It was too stupid, plain and easy.

"You never let anyone see it unless you're sure you're going to k...ill... them..." Well crap.

Kakashi chuckled a bit. But not that dark chuckle you usually hear in the movies when the victim suddenly realises what the mad guy's going to do to them. It was more like a 'wtf?' chuckled.. More like a laughter than aynthing. Okay, so maybe he WASN'T going to kill you. But still. A woman has her right to be suspicious.

"Or it might be a sign that I actually trust you enough to show it to you." He stated pleasantly, poking my nose as he sat back up.

"...I find that hard to believe coming from a perverted idiot."

"That's mean, Yuuko-chan."

"It's not mean, i-Wait. CHAN?"

And then he vanished with a poof, leaving a note behind.

'Dear yuuko-CHAN,

Leaving on a mission for two days. I'll be back in time for supper on wednesday,

Kakashi'

"...TEMEEEEE!!"


	5. Maa, DEITO desu ne?

You had thought you would be doing a LOT more stuff for a few days. The few days Kakashi would be out on his mission, at least. Though, strange thing was, he hadn't gone out with Sakura or Naruto. There was a pang of anxiety in your chest a few times, though you shrugged it off with a little job hunting. Which you had done a LOT in the past few days. From shop to shop, you kept on asking for a job, ANY job. And you were always refused, people saying they either didn't need any help, or if they DID, they already had other people to fill up the spots.

_You were just wandering around, on the last day Kakashi would be away. The sun was already starting to set, and you still hadn't found a job yet. It's like the world was plotting against you or something! Either that, or they didn't want you around since you were from an other country you weren't allowed to talk about. Or there really WERE too many people for the jobs available. Crap. Just your luck, too!_

_After having gotten used to the idea you'd have to try and find away to prostitute yourself, you walked in front of a shop. A WEAPON shop. Lots of that sharp and shiny stuff you love so damn much. And, when you saw the HELP WANTED sign up in the window, you freaked. Angels had descended for you in the form of a weapon shop in need of employees!_

_"Ano... Sumimasen deshita!" You called at the counter, lightly leaning in when a man popped up from UNDER the counter. And almost ramming into your chin. "Eto, I saw the sign in the window, I thought I might come see for a job?"_

_The man, who seemed about as tall and old as Kakashi, inspected you for a while before smirking and leaning over the counter. Oh damn. You were starting to wonder what you got yourself in._

_"Whatcha know about weaponry?" He finally asked, quirking a brow when you heaved the GREATEST sighed you'd ever sighed since you first got there. Of COURSE he'd ask you what you know about sharp stuff! Not like they'd trust ANYONE with all of this. But the thing was, and you knew it before even stepping in, you knew NOTHING about ANYTHING. _

_"Nothing at all..." you groaned, letting your head fall on the counter._

_"No problem! I'll just make you clean the stuff anyways." The man laughed, reaching under the counter again and handing you a set of clothes. How the HELL could he have guessed your size..? Oh right. Inspecting gaze. Perv. Drop by tomorrow afternoon to make things official, alright?"_

_Wow. You seriously never thought that getting a job around here would be THIS easy! What about the applications, the long interviews, and all that useless shit you had to go through back home..?! Like hell you would care, anyway. Heck, you got a job and you'd be able to pay yourself your own place in no time!_

Your own place, huh..? As you snuggled close to the fresh set of work clothes in your arms, on the couch, you sighed as you looked around the living room. You were comfy here, you didn't want to leave..! And you hated being alone. Like, lonesome-phobic. Though you sighed again; like Kakashi would ever want you to stay around to begin with. He was the LONER type, he never really had anyone around him. If only Naruto and Sakura, but those two were like... His kids or something like that. And you? You were just the random girl from kingdom come who'd fallen from the sky and forced on him for god knows how much time.

You were going to get up to go to bed when someone knocked on the door. It was about midnight, so you jumped more than a little when someone nearly tore the door down. A few seconds later, you heard something slump again the door in a thump, and your heart raced at the many things it might've been. Readying the kunai you had been playing with for the past hour or so, you wearily reach the door, and screamed when you opened it, finding SOMEONE had fallen on your feet.

//----------------------------------\

"Why're... You.. So.. .Fucking.. HEAVY?!" You growled in the hallway as you dragged Kakashi's unconscious and VER heavy body to his room. Like frickin' hell you would let him sleep on the couch after this! No way. Whatever had gone wrong during that mission of his.. Well, he would have to rest up in a REALLY bed for the night.

When you finally managed to get the jounin into bed, you fell to the side of it, panting and mentally berating yourself. If you'd opened the door sooner, maybe he wouldn't have fainted! Speaking of which... Kakashi doesn't usually faint. Whatever it was, it had to have been rough. I mean, you KNEW Kakashi never just fainted for nothing, right? Weird thing was that there didn't seem to be a single trace of blood anywhere...

Which then reminded you that maybe you hadn't looked properly. After all, the lighting was dimmed, so maybe he really DID have some wounds seeping blood without your even knowing it! You shuddered at the possibility, seeing as you hated deep blood-pouring wounds, but swallowed that fear and stumbled up to your feet to switch on the light.

"...Oh my fucking god." And then you closed the light. You preferred not see all that well, in the end. Oh, sure, there weren't any kunai or needle sticking out, but there was blood and scratched all over his body. Not to mention he had uncovered his Sharingan. Whatever he had been after must've been quite the thing..

Taking your courage in two hands, you stumbled back to the bed, you started to unzip Kakashi's vest. If there was one thing you were grateful for, it was having a mom who had gotten training in the medical field. You'd have to thank her some day. If you... ever got home, that is...

"This is NO time to be homesick ,Yuuko!" You growled at yourself, shrugging and taking Kakashi's hitai-ate off. You'd use it to keep your hair out of your face. And you smirked, too; somehow, you just couldn't help but think you looked damn sexy like this.

"Yoshi! Hitsotsu: ARMS."

//----------------------------------\

You had always loved waking up beside someone in the morning, even though the birds were making an infernal racket. You'd slept over at your boyfriends' a few times, and you always loved that feeling of being held close to someone in the morning. You smiled lightly. This was nice, being with your boyfrie-

You eyes shot open.

You broke up with him two weeks ago because he was a total ass. And you were in Konoha. Your mind tried feebly to grasp the situation when your watch beeped those three ubber loud and obnoxious beeps, and a groaned gave from above your head. What the HELL was happening?!

"...Yuuko...chan..?" a low voice asked on top of your head, as you blinked a few dozen times before everything sunk in VERY deep. As deep as the shade of red your face was turning right now. "Why are we-"

"What the HELL got into you when you nearly tore the door off?!" You yelled, sitting up straight in a flash, wincing as your back blocked for a few seconds. "First you almost make me have a heart attack, THEN you faint, then you fall on my FEET, then I have to drag you to your freaking room, then I have to wrap you up with anything I could find, and DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS?!"

"You were worried?" Kakashi asked incredulously, sitting up as well, rubbing his temples. He froze for a minute, realising he was staring at his hitai, which was on your head. He wouldn't even ask why you were wearing it.

"Oh, SORRY if I was worried when a man stumbles in a doorway half dead!" you yelled again, jumping out of bed, letting out a sharp 'meep!' when the hitai fell over your eyes, and down to your neck. Yeah, you liked it better that way. It felt less heavy...

"I still don't get why you're so worried, you don't even know me..." Kakashi shrugged, crossing his arms over his (bare)chest. HOW you had managed NOT to drool yet was a miracle and a mystery to you.

"Look, you want to know why I know all I know? I'm from an other world where this place in a SHOW based of a MANGA series focused on Naruto's life. They talk about him, Naruto, Sasuke, Orochimaru, You, Tsunade, and everyone you might see around here. THAT'S why I know everything, happy? Now you know I've been lying to you for the past week." You growled, stomping out of the apartment, and heading outside. A little fresh air might clear your thoughts for a bit...

//----------------------------------\

"Oh, it's you!" the man behind the counter called in a happy voice, jumping over said counter to come see me at the door. "You're pretty early. Felt like coming sooner?"

"Something like that." I laughed lightly, looking around. "I just figured I'd get this over with soon, right?" I smiled, suddenly snapping my eyes open. "Oh! Right, I'm so rude!!" You whined, bowing low. "Hishimoto Yuuko desu. Doozo yoroshiku ne!" You introduced yourself in a formal way, and grinned sheepishly as the man in front of you chuckled.

"Kochira koso. Name's Souchiro Hirishima." He smiled, extending his hand, which you shook vigorously. "A woman with a grip! I like that, gives a good impression." He laughed heartily, making you smile. You were already liking this place!

After giving you a brief tour of the shop and the back-store, Shima-kun(he told you to call him that) had showed you how to clean and place every weapon, from katanas to windmill shuriken. The place, although containing weapons that are made to bring death, was a pretty bright and cheery place. Something you didn't quite expect, but hey, not like you were going to complain.

"I live just upstairs, so if there's ever a problem, you can just come knocking on my door, okay?" He laughed again, taking his place back behind the counter. "When do you think you can start?"

"Tomorrow, if you want to." You answered with a smile, and that had been that. Not only did you get a job in one of the most amazing shops you'd ever seen, but your boss was as sweet and fun as could be! "Oh, right! You wouldn't happen to know a kunoichi named Fye Kurokawa, would you?" You asked, your hand leaning against the door.

"Kurokawa? Demonspeed? Of course! She lives near the Hokage's building, though she spend her time around the market. If you're looking for her, that might be where you'll find her." Shima said with that same smile, and then an other person popped to mind. "Do you happen to know Hitaru Higakura as well?" you asked hesitantly, and with a reason. You sighed, though, when you saw Shima's smile widen.

"Hitaru! Oh, she's a fine woman, indeed..! You'll probably find her at the academy. If not, ask Umino Iruka where she is. He'd probably know." She replied, and after thanking him briefly, you head off to find the woman you had created yourself.

Why did you want to find Hitaru? Because she was the one who would be able to teach you a few things in swordsmanship. After all, you had made her to be the perfect example of a swordswoman. The perfect kendo teacher! After all, kendo was an at you always wanted to pick up.. But there aren't many kendo dojos around Montreal. Otherwise known as home.

It took you about an hour to get to the academy, after getting lost a few times on the way, and stopping by shops here and there, just to converse and look at the different things. Though, one you got to the academy, your blood froze. What if she would refuse? That was a possibility you couldn't forget. But, oh well. If not Hitaru, Iruka might teach you the basics...

"Excuse me miss, can I help you?" a woman asked to your right, and there she stood, in all her 5"7' glory. Hitaru Higakura, the very woman you had created all those years ago. Wow. She was WAY prettier in real life than in your skimpy drawings..!

"Er, yes... Higakura-san, right?" You asked formally, trying your best not to stutter. "Yes, well... I was wondering if you could form me in the art of kendo, onegai shimasu!" you asked, bowing low, ordering yourself to to stand up until she spoke.

"...Funny how you remind me of myself when I was younger." You heard her laugh, as you raised her head. "You're not from around here, are you?" she asked with a raised brow, and you shook your head. Then again, how could she not notice? After all, you had written her story. And she had been sent to your world before coming back...

So THAT'S why Tsunade had said it wasn't the first one! Maybe Kaili was around here somewhere, too..!

"In any case, I'd be glad to teach you, uh..."

"Yuuko!" you said a little to loudly, berating yourself mentally yet again. "Eto, Hishimoto Yuuko desu. Arigatou gozaimashite." You thanked and bowed again, smiling widely.

"Yuuko, eh? Well, I'm going off on a mission with my team tomorrow, and won't be back before next Monday... Meet me here Tuesday, sounds good?"

"Y-yes! I'll be here Tuesday afternoon!" You affirmed, bowing again, and then you both bid your farewells. Wow, this world was working out for you a lot easier than you expected... well, Hitaru was only something you had guessed would go right. After all, after coming back here, home, her heart had softened up a bit. And now that she was training a team of genin...

//----------------------------------\

"T-tadaima..." You called weakly when you got back at the apartment, after having got lost only once on your way home. Though, by the time you got 'home', it was something like noon, so the smell of food wasted through the place.

"You know, Tsunade-sama's pretty upset with you." Kakashi said calmly, sitting by the dining room table, sipping a cap of tea god-knows how, since he never lowered his mask. Suddenly telling me the truth and then running off like that? She was really happy..." The elder jounin, letting his cup back on the talbe again.

"Gomen nasai..." you appologised weakly, taking off your sandals. "But I had to stop by the shop I got a job at, and needed to go see someone at the academy." You sighed, looking around at pouring yourself a cup of tea as well. Maybe that'd calm you a bit.

"You found a job? So soon?" Kakashi asked, quirking a brow, and again, you could tell he was smirking. "Where?"

"Mainichi weapon shop." You said shortly, staking a sip of your cup of tea, wincing a bit and adding a spoon of sugar to it. Much better. "The owner's pretty nice. He almost offered the job the minute I walked in." You chuckled lightly, not looking up at the silver-haired man at the opposite end of the round table.

"...And what about this person you wante to see at the academy?" Kakashi asked curiously, and when you dared look at him, you found he had stopped reading Icha Icha, and was fully focused on you. You felt heat creeping into your cheeks, but you shook it away and shrugged.

"I went there to ask Hitaru-san if she'd be willing to train me in kendo." You muttered, hearing Kakashi momentarily choke on his mouthful of tea. "Well what?"

"SHE'S in the show too?" Kakashi asked, narrowing his eyes at you. "She hasn't had anythig to do with the Akatsuki or Orochimaru..."

"I know. I made her." You stated bladnly, blinkinf a few times. "You pried her away from her parents' dead bodies when she was ten, kicked a candle and set the house of fire. ANBU who cleaned up said the assassins did it. She was sent to my world when she was twelve, along with Kaili, and came back seven years later." I explained, to prove I knew what I was talking about, all the while taking an other sip of my cup of tea.

"So then you know about Ame and..."

"Fye Kurokawa, also known as DeamonSpeed, her kekkei genkai, Blood's Trace, she was Hitaru's student for a while, moved here alone because of her abusive father, and if I'm right, it's only been a few years since she went back to get Ame and Kuchiko."

"...why did you make them suffer so much..?" Kakashi asked in a hushed tone, looking down at his cup(more like glaring at it. Poor thing. It never DID anything to hit..!).

"Do you think they would be as strong as they are today if they had't passed through the events that they did, at the point in thime when they did?" I asked with a smirk, downing the rest of my tea. "...You need to start buying sake. Tea isn't enough." I shrugged.

"...SAKE?" he chuckled, turning back to his book.

"Well what? I like getting drunk. Got a problem with that mister 'I-hate-hospitals-so-much-I-rahter-come-home-half-dead-and-freak-out-my-roomate'? Huh?" I snapped, leaning over the table.

"Not at all. I was planning on asking you if you'd want to go out at a bar with me tonight." He said nonchalantly, his eyes still devouring the lines of the book.

"...Of course I would!" I said, taking an offended tone, crossing my arms and looking away. "Wait, WHAT?!"


	6. Atashi wa tomashita ka?

Until then, you'd never quite realised how badly you missed your computer. How VITAL it had been to you daily entertainment. You were starting to miss the people you had been talking to for several years, now. The guys from Texas, that dude you'd helped quit drugs, and all those other guys on Gaia Online, that super awesome RP site you were on for ages, it seems... All the people you RPed with. Like Naruto RPs... But the person that was in your mind most was Lauren. The girl you had been currently Rping with. And how convenient would it have been that you were into an OTHER Naruto RP?

How had it gotten this bad? You'd only been around Kakashi for three weeks now, and already you had been forced to go out on a date. Though it hadn't happened yet(because of various work times and random missions), you couldn't help but be a little anxious among the excitement of it all. You rolled over on the couch, facing the ceiling. Last week, you had forced Kakashi back in his room, insisting on the fact that you had overstayed your welcome there. And besides, you loved waking up, thinking you were home, but still feeling happy you were in Konoha. A few nights, you'd cry a little, quietly weeping yourself to sleep, but that wasn't often.

...Again. How the hell did you manage to get in this deep, only three weeks into knowing someone? Last time you'd gone out on a date, it'd took a few MONTHS before you felt at ease around him. But, for some reason, you just naturally felt comfortable around Kakashi. You blamed that on the fact that you'd watched Naruto one too many times... And also the fact that the guy just WAS that sexy. You sighed again, closing your eyes. You jumped and fell off the couch, though, when your watch beeped again.

"And here I was wanting to give you a good scare." A voice came over you, as you groaned and nursed your painful head. That stupid jounin didn't know how to treat a woman, you thought bitterly, pushing yourself up to a sitting position.

"Okaeri." You muttered in a sour undertone, as you walked to the kitchen, whipping up two plates with the few things you had kept on low heat over the stove for the past hour. It didn't take a genius to see that you had been waiting for the always late jounin after having gone through the trouble of preparing a healthy dinner.

"Which reminds me." Kakashi spoke up, his plate cleaned, as always, without you so much as seeing him move. You had gotten used to it, though. Just as people were used to seeing you two walk around together from time to time, and just as Okawa(whom you had finally gotten the chance to see), Genma and Aoba had gotten used to seeing a woman in Kakashi's apartment.

"We still haven't gone out on that date."

And then you almost choked on whatever it was you were eating. You had EXPECTED him to bring up the subject one day or an other, but after two weeks, you had thought he forgot everything about it! Looks like you'd have to learn not to underestimate Kakashi. He might look like the carefree idiot at times, but he still has... SOME sense of logic, and a remainder of a brain. Enough to remember things like dates.

"I see you didn't forget." He added in a pleased tone, resting his chin on his interlaced fingers. Oh, yeah! Did he expect YOU to forget something like that..?! You'd nearly died of a heart attack..!

_"...Of course I would!" I said, taking an offended tone, crossing my arms and looking away. "Wait, WHAT?!" you yelled, pointing at the elder jounin. Woah. He had NOT just said what you THOUGHT he said, right..?_

_"...You heard me." He replied slowly, his eyes not diverting themselves from that damned book. Which you really shouldn't call a damned book since you read it just as much as he did. "Though maybe not tonight. Kurenai would annoy for ages..." He sighed, closing his book with a light 'flump'._

_"Y-you're going out tonight?" You asked in a stutter, fighting to keep your place on the dinning room chair. Because, you admit, you had nearly fallen off once or twice. Not that anyone could blame you, really. And all you wanted was sake, for Pete's sake..._

_"Gai and Kurenai seemed to find it a good idea to bring me out at a bar some night... I'm going just to make them happy so they can leave me alone." He shrugged, looking away._

_"Sure you are." You smirked, getting up and prancing back you your(ex) room._

"It's a little hard to forget you you randomly shoot it out of nowhere." You mumbled, crossing your arms and looking away, after having taken the last bite out of whatever it was you had been slaving over for the past few hours.

"Well, are you still up for sake? Hm?" Kakashi asked, and you could see his eye lightly curved, distinctively telling you he was smirking again(you sighed at that).

"Sure, why not? Shima said I was off for the weekend. Might as well take advantage of the moment and not care if I have a serious hangover tomorrow, right?" You chuckled, running a hand through your hair. You got used to its being do soft. Though what pissed you off is that it would be growing back that dark ebony brown... Yeah, you dyed it that blood red everything month or so.

"Then you should get ready, Yuuko-chan. I'll be waiting outside." Kakashi said, and vanished in a poof. Well CRAP.

"...WHAT THE FUCK?! What the hell am I going to wear?!" You cried, almost falling face first on the floor before running to the bathroom, snatching a few articles of clothing in Kakashi/your closet on the way.

//----------------------------------\

"NEVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN!" You yelled at the taller jounin in front of you and you angrily ran down the stairs. "Do you even know how stressful it is to do something with my hair this late at night?! I can't THINK straight!!" you growled, sighing as you heard Kakashi chuckled. True, maybe you were overreacting a bit...

"Trust me, you look fine." He said in a cheery tone, as you looked down at yourself. True. You DID look pretty good, even though you thought your body wasn't the dream body you always wanted, AND considering you weren't some hot supermodel...

You were dressed in some stuff you had picked up for nights like this, nights out at a bar. You wore a long, flare-sleeved fishnet shirt under a blank tank top, under a sleeveless black vest. As for your pants, they were also black, with three slashes at the knees, strapped from the lower slash down. Chains hung here and there, and you wore a decent sized black belt. Something only you would be wearing.

"Shut up." You muttered, stuffing your hands in your pockets and following beside Kakashi as he started walking off in some unknown direction. "Just to make things clear, this is just a friendly outing at a random bar because we have nothing better to do with our lives than drown our past problems." You said after a while, looking up at the full moon. Already, eh..? You smiled lightly at it, reminding you of the last night you'd spent at home...

"Whatever you want it to be." Kakashi said simply, not tearing his eyes away from the horizon. Wait. Since when DOESN'T he read that book of his when he knows something going to be utterly boring..?

"...Are you okay?" you asked, quickening your pace to stop in front of him, tilting your head to the side. "You usually drag that book around wherever you go. Especially when you know things are going to be boring." You said, narrowing your eyes in suspicion.

"I'm just not bored around you." Kakashi replied in a simple tone with a curved eye, indicating he was smiling. Walking around you, he left you pretty perplexed. Just not BORED around you? And how the hell was THAT possible?! You were the most boring person alive! You weren't a kunoichi(speaking of which, Hitaru's brutal sessions had started to shape you up a bit), you weren't all that beautiful, you didn't have anything particularly interesting...

So what the hell?!

//----------------------------------\

"...To drinking the night away?" You offered in an airy voice, after having been drinking for an hour already. You always were one to start being a little tipsy early... But you wouldn't be DRUNK before an other hour or two...

"To drinking the night away." Kakashi agreed with a poorly dissimulated smile, though you guessed he was just playing along, thinking you were more than just a little tipsy, and not wanting to make you feel... Alone in your intoxicatedness.

You actually felt quite at ease like this. Spending the night with Kakashi, and your beloved sake... Just trying to ease the pain of being away from home for almost three months now. And now, you were starting to wonder what else could go wrong. Or marvelously well. So far, you'd managed to get a job, be accepted in the village, live with Kakashi(until you get the money to move out, and even then, you might not move out anyways)...

Which brought up the subject of housing. Would Kakashi let you stay at his place after you'd got the necessary amount to move out? Probably not... After all, you'd known him to be that type of guy who'd rather be alone. But then again, maybe you were wrong; maybe he DID enjoy your company...

Nothing better to clear your conscience than to ask, right? And if he ever asked you what that was all about, you can pretend you didn't remember.

Good going Yuuko!

"Kakashi...? Even if I ever get the money to afford my own place... Would you still let me stay with you?" you asked in a hushed tone, looking fixedly at the bottle of sake at your right.

"...Why not?" Kakashi replied after a while, downing an other shot of sake. "After all, who would say no to a lovely woman who cooks dinner every night?" He chuckled, raising his cup to you. So, he WOULD let you stay...! You were actually quite relieved. You didn't want to move out anyways. But, you had already made that clear to yourself.

"You're going to have to go buy an other bed, then." You stated, gulping down more of that delicious liquid, feeling the familiar warm sensation in your throat. "'Cause I sure as hell ain't sleeping on the couch forever!"

//----------------------------------\

Beep. Beep. Beep. HA! Stupid watch was muffled under the couch cushions! You started doing that after it randomly started beeping at midnight. And it was NOT stopping,. You swore at it and had to run away from Kakashi(who wanted to kill the damned with with a kunai) and shut it up for good by slipping it under the cushions of the couch. Too bad watched don't listen to threats. Otherwise... THIS little watch would've been scared out of its skin.

"...CRAP! I have to go meet Hitaru!!" You yelled, jumping off the couch, running to Kakashi's room, grabbing something comfortable to train in, before running into the bathroom, going back out, gulping down a glass of orange juice along with painkillers before bounding out the door, leaving Kakashi a note on the dinning room table.

_'Ohayou, Kakashi-KUUUUN!_

_Sorry I left in a hurry(and for making a racket when I got ready), but I forgot I had to go training with Hitaru this morning. Blame our night drinking yesterday. Don't worry; plenty of painkillers left for you to abuse. Just remember to leave me some!_

_I'll be back for lunch, so don't eat, I'll fix us something up, okay?_

_Later!_

_Yuuko'_

//----------------------------------\

"Tadaima- Ooh, smells good..." You muttered happily, slipping off your sandals and throwing your practice sword against the wall, heading straight towards the kitchen. Were Kakashi was actually COOKING something. You actually nearly fainted at that. "W-what are you doing?"

"Okaeri." Kakashi greeted with a pleasant tone, already serving two plates of what seemed like marinated and cooked pork with fried riced. You were almost drooling, just smelling it. Man, that guy had talent both as a shinobi AND as a cook. Man. That guy would make a fiiiine husband for whoever would be marrying him.

If he ever GOT married, to begin with, or even if even lived long enough to hear those bells ringing. Which, in fact, you hoped he WOULD.

"Since when do you have any talent in the kitchen?" you asked in a tone of disbelief you had poorly managed to hide, making the jounin chuckled quite a bit. Well what? Was it really THAT funny that you couldn't believe the lazy ass couldn't cook?

"Since I've been watching you cook for the past three weeks." He explained shortly with a smile, turning to face you, so you could see his forehead protector was up. So THAT'S how! He'd been memorizing everything with the Sharingan, while you weren't watching!

...lazy-ass.

After conversing mildly about this and that over lunch, you insisted to do the dishes, since you were suppose to make lunch and had obviously been bested at that. Though, afterwards, as you both held your cups of tea, you were expecting the question that was coming.

"...Why did you ask me if you could stay here last night..?" Kakashi asked, both his eyes boring into yours. Damn. You'd been expecting it, but you hadn't really been thinking of an answer. In fact, YES, you had... But it's like everything had just evaporated in thin air. Poof!

"Because... I... Hate being alone... I mean, I've lived all my life around my parents and brother... And I don't HATE living with you. I mean, I actually like living with you. But, I just kept on thinking that maybe you'd rather kick me out the minute you had the chance to... I mean, you never really seemed like the type of guy who'd like having to live with someone else..." You sighed, letting your head rest on the table This was winding up to be harder than you expected...

"Do I really look like that evil of a person?" Kakashi asked with an obvious smirk, resiting his chin on his right fist. "I never really thought of myself like that."

"Th-that's not what I said!" You stuttered, shrugging and gulping down the boiling tea. You bit back a yelp, wincing though sighing once the burning sensation had dulled a bit. "It's just that... I didn't think that you'd actually want someone in your way." You muttered after a while, looking away.

"Like I said." Kakashi replied quietly, taking an other sip of his cup of tea, without your really knowing how. "I enjoy your cooking AND company. I'm not the one who's going to kick you out if you ever get kicked out." He finished, an empty cup of tea now sitting in front of him.

"That's actually quite reassuring." You sighed with a nervously chuckled, scratching the back of your neck.

"...Why did you go see Hitaru to train...?" He asked suddenly, his eyes riveted to your face. Honestly, it made you a little anxious, what with the scenes from his fight with Itachi and Zabuza whirling through your mind.

"I figured... That since she knows what it's like to be from a different world, and since she's been trained in kendo, she might teach me what her sensei taught her..." You answered weekly, staring down at the table.

"You could've asked me, you know." He muttered, and you blinked a few times. Had he just sounded OFFENDED? Yes, you believed he DID.

"I'm sorry if I offended you, you know. It's just that I thought you'd be too busy to teach ME anything." You said , trying your best to hide a tone of disbelief.

"...Whatever." And then he whipped out that famous book of his.

"I thought you said I wasn't boring!"

"Who said I was bored?"

"THAT BOOK."

"It can't talk, as far as I know."

"You read it because you're bored!!"

"...yes."

"So I'm BORING?"

"No."

"...What the fuck?!" You growled, leaning back in your chair...

After three seconds, though, you started wondering if your chair not stopping its leaning back was a normal thing. Until you found that the ground had decided that it wanted to be friends with you. You, you never really DID make friends with the ground. And, for a while(maybe three seconds), the world around you seemd to freeze. Kakashi's arms snaked around you to keep you from falling, your chair alomost hanging in the air, along with Kakashi's, which was thrown back.

Time took its normal course again, and both chair fell down with a clatter of wood on tile, as you looked up at the mismatched eyes.

"You could've just let me fall, you know, I would've survived." You stated simply, still hanging barely a foot above the floor. Tch. Honestly.

"I just didn't want that colorful rainbow of words to fly out of your mouth again." Kakashi said with both eyes curving, and that's when you slammed a hand to his face, pushing him away from you. Which resulted in you falling on the ground ANYWAYS.

Weird moment right there. He had actually seemed to hold a weird GLEAM in his eyes for a moment. Oh well. You shrugged it off, jumping to your feet and head to the bathroom.

"I'm off in the shower!!" you announced cheerfully, closing the door to the bathroom shut behind you, and sliding down said door.

Seriosuly.

What the HELL had just happened?


	7. Watashi wa iki tai to omowa nai

As the near boiling water pelted against your skin in more than comforting patters, you sighed under the shower, your hands firmly pressed against the tiles in front of you. You were thinking about home, again, and how you'd like to see your family's faces again. But, then again, you were finally comfortable, here in Konoha. You had met a few of the other jounin, such as Kurenai and Gai(the latter of which you would've preferred never meeting, truth be told), and you'd even met Naruto and Sakura! And, for those of you who DON'T know it, Sakura IS a very strong woman, both physically and mentally. People used to hate her SO much(like your friends, for example) just because she kept swooning over Sasuke. DAMN people, get over it! She sure did!

Shrugging after having rinsed your hair and body for a second time, not really caring how much time you spent in the shower, to turned the knobs in a swift movement and stepped out of the shower, snatching one of the few towels always left on the shelves. You still were grateful that Kakashi left them there. EVERY time you went in to take a shower, even if it WAS planned, you always came out realising(and swearing) when you didn't have a towel.

Then your mind reeled back to what had happened maybe, twenty minutes ago, with Kakashi. You had just nearly FALLEN. It wasn't like you were going to die or anything! And besides, wouldn't it have been some kind of a good laugh for him, seeing you fall like that..? You shrugged again, wringing the water out of your hair. Stupid Kakashi. Why couldn't he just be like everyone else, and LAUGH at you when you fall instead of TYRING to stop your from falling when you're going to make yourself fall anyways? Oh, of course. If he WAS like everyone else, he wouldn't be the Copy Nin, now would he?

Sighing one last time and wrapping the towel tightly around your frame, you walked out of the steamy bathroom, heading straight for Kakashi's room, where most of your clothes were being kept hostage. You slammed the door shut, making sure he knew you were in there, and then proceeded to extract your SECOND night gown and bathrobe from the closet, as well as the pair of black underwear you bought a few days prior. You and black are one. You'd ALWAYS loved that, er... Well, you can't really call it a colour, but for the sake of things, let's say it is.

Anyways.

"You can sleep in the bed tonight, you know." Can a voice from the living room ,as you headed for the fridge for a little last minute glass of water before going to bed. Odd of Kakashi to just pop something like that up. After all, you'd categorically renounced to sleeping in HIS bed. You WERE his roommate, and thus should leave him to his stuff instead of invading his privacy. You already HAD by using his closet...

"No! I told you a million times I'm not letting you sleep on the-" you'd started, but found yourself interrupted by the sudden proximity of that stupid jounin. Man, the WAYS he could come up with to shut you up. Bakaaa.

"I'll sleep on a futon beside you." He whispered you your ear, and you couldn't stop the shiver running up your spine. DAMN him and his sexiness! You'd have to get him back on that one.

"...If anyone's sleeping on a futon, it's me. Tough luck." You muttered, turning back to your glass of water. Though it didn't take a long time before you felt a chin digging into your shoulder. Great, you thought, now he wants something. Just your luck! You were tired and sore and NOW'S the time he had to ask something?! Yeah, you seriously had to bash his masked face in some day.

"Think you can make something for lunch tomorrow?" Kakashi whispered to your ear again as you gently put the glass of water back on the counter. Uh, since when did he have to AK you to make lunch? You always did, without anything being said...

"Uh, sure, but you know you don't have to ask, Kakashi-san..." You sighed, hanging your head a bit. You'd never be able to let go of that suffix, would you? Damn you and your mother's strict teaching concerning respect towards people older than you!

"But you'd have to make enough food for you, Naruto, Sakura and I." Kakashi said with that perky tone in his voice that just seemed to cream out the fact that he was either smirking, grinning, smiling or plotting something behind that mask of his.

"...You're paying for everything I'm using."

"Of course."

"Then I'm off to bed then!" You said merrily, pouncing on the bed and falling asleep almost instantly. It was CRAZY how had Hitaru could make you work in just two days..! AND you had to work at the weapons shop. Which you simply LOVED. Working in that place, along with Hirishima, was just WONDERFUL. Like heaven, only shinier and sharper.

And a little more deadly, but whatever.

//----------------------------------\\

You groaned again as you heard your watch beeping at a distance, and as the birds kept on chirping too loud on the windowsill, outside. You groaned again as you noticed that same benign presence beside you as you had the time Kakashi had come home half-dead from that mission. Well, everything had made itself bluntly obvious in your still sleepy mind.

Whatever had happened last night, Kakashi had managed to crawl up in bed next to you, or YOU crawled up next to him. You liked saying it was the first, more than anything.

"Kakashi, what the fuck are you doing here..?" You asked in a breathy voice, rolling(and eventually falling) out of bed with a thump, jumping to your feet, your silken robe fluttering around you in waves of indigo.

"...You said... futon..." You heard amongst the various grunts that came from the grey lump of hair that once was beside you, as you snickered. Oh, this would be the PERFECT occasion to get him back for yesterday night!!

Sure, you knew you were acting like a kid right now, but you really couldn't care less. After all, this was just a game to you. A very fun and sexy game, but still. You slowly crawled back under the covers, your bathrobe laying abandoned on the floor in a pool of silk. Your hand brushed Kakashi's stomach, slowly reach up to his left hand, which was lazily covering his eye. With a soft push, the scar was reveal, as both eyes were closed, the lids moving lightly in not quite dissipated slumber. You smirked at that; good, so he was still, somewhat, sleeping. You traced the scar left on the left eye with a single finger, your smirk only growing larger as your other hand made it to the rim of the mask. You winced, half expecting Kakashi you snap out of it and wrench your wrist away from his face, but nothing of the sort came. You really DID stay there, motionless for a few seconds, Oh, you WISHED you had your camera with you..! Oh well. You slowly started to roll down his mask, your heart pumping faster and faster by the second. If I have to die today, you thought, I hope it's after I've seen his face!

But then, just as you had uncovered his nose, you found yourself pinned on your back, on the bed, with a very... Well, angry-looking jounin(to say the least) over you.

"Just what did you think you were doing?" He snarled, as you just seemed to turn three thousand shades of red. Oh, man, that guy was RIPPED... "Curiosity killed the cat..." he growled, and you found a teeny bit of reassurance in that.

"Satisfaction brought it back." You said triumphantly, smirking in turn. "And besides, cats have nine lives." You added in a matter-of-a-fact tone, sticking your tongue out at Kakashi. Speaking of which, now that you looked at him a little closer, you didn't quite understand what that light shade of pink was. Oh well. You guess he was just hot.

...In EVERY sense of the word. But that's just you(and ¾ of the population).

"Now, if you don't mind, I have training to attend to." You shrugged, trying to pry your wrists from Kakashi's grasp. That's when you realised that squirming was pointless. Damn. You and your stupid little plans. You never should have plotted revenge! Look at where it got you!

"...Hitaru hates people who're late." Kakashi stated after a while, and you could tell that he was smirking under that half-rolled-down mask of his. Ooooh, DAMN him.

"Yeah. I know. And if she learns I was late because you were too freakin' horny and decided to assault me, guess who's dying?"

Seconds later, the bedroom door closed behind a pack of muscles, skin and silver hair. You inwardly celebrated this little victory, and then proceeded to get changed and ready for the hard and long day of work and training up ahead. Ha, if Kakashi had known that your training session was only this afternoon...

Oh yeah, the cat's nine lives would be gone PRETTY soon.

//----------------------------------\\

"Eh, Shima-kun??" You called sheepishly, poking your head through the door that led to the backstore. "I sort of had a bad run-in with one of the windmill shuriken, heh..." I muttered lamely, raising my red hand. Yes, RED. I sort of SLIPPED while cleaning one of them, and could've chopped my hand off. But, thankfully enough, I'd only lightly cut the back of my right hand. Weird thing was, it was RIGHT over the scar I'd had after a violent bike crashing.

Fate does weird things. Oh well.

"WHAT? Are you okay?! Is there a lot of bloodloss? Is the shuriken REALLY dirty?" Hirishima panicked, running up to me, inspecting the hand I held upright, for minimum bloodloss. EXACLTY for that.

"Cut, yes, no, and I don't think so." I answered bitterly, finding that the throbbing pain in my hand was getting a little uncomfortable.

"...Right, well, come on, let's go wrap this thing up... God, you really scared me there!" Shima sighed with something like a smirk, leading you to the backstore for the second time since you started working there. Last time had been a little more violent and gory. You was holding a kunai up in the sun, to see how the light gleamed off of it to see if you had cleaned it properly... And it slipped and slid down your arm. You cursed, not because of the pain or blood, but because you were thinking about the scar THAT was going to leave... Along with all the other scars on your body you've collected because of various surgeries.

"...Shima-kun..?" you asked meekly, looking up at the man bandaging and disinfecting your hand. DAMN that stings like a bitch! Seriously!

"Yeah, what's wrong? Oh, uh, I know it hurts... Just bear with m-" he started, but you interrupted him when you shook your head. "...What?"

"How can you know when someone's into you?" You asked, your face turning a few hundred shade of pink and red, as you looked away.

"You're twenty TWO and you still can't figure that out?" Shima laughed, you it just made you sneer at him. Why the hell was he laughing?! It wasn't THAT funny! "I mean, how did you know with your other boyfriends?" He asked, grinning down at you.

"...It' not the same. He's distant and cold, and I don't even know if I can call him a friend... The other guys, at least, they were easier to read that a charred book..." you sighed, hanging your head. Why the hell did guys have to be so damn hard to understand..?

"As stupid as this might sound, I think you should just try to pry answers from him in the most discrete ways you can find." He paused here, making you tilt your head. You understood PERFECTLY what that pause meant.

"Yeah, we're talking about ME, right? I'm not one to just disappear in the crowd and not make myself known. I get seen unintentionally and in the WEIRDEST ways." You laughed, eventually sighing. Wow. Life in Konoha sure was turning out to be harder than you-

"Hitaru-san?" a voice called from the counter, and you easily recognised the face and flashy pink hair. What the hell Sakura was doing at the shop at this hour, especially when she, Naruto and Kakashi were supposed to be out training or something, was a mystery to you.

"Sakura-chan..? What're you doing he- OW! Damn, that hurt!" You snapped at Hirishima, you shook his head violently, and finished bandaging your hand.

"S-sorry, got a little side-tracked." He grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. For a 25 year old, he sure was acting like a teen... Which, come to think of it, might actually be the REASON for him acting weird.

Sakura WAS there, after all.

"Well, uh... Kakashi-sensei cancelled training today saying he was sick... I thought I'd come by to see if you had any news on how he's feeling..?" She asked, leaning on the counter, staring through the clear glass and at the weapons underneath.

"...Sick? He seemed perfectly fine when I woke up..." You shrugged, crossing your arms as you jumped up on the stool behind the counter. "See anything you like?"

"Oh, no, just looking." She answered with a smile, though it quickly turned into a frown. "You said he looked fine,,,? But Naruto and I were told he's been feeling odd since yesterday night." Sakura replied, lightly narrowing her eyes.

"Since last NIGHT? But that's barely possible." You chuckled, distinctively remembering that little scene with the chairs. "If anything, I think he was at the epitome of health yesterday night!"

You both stared at each other for a while, before coming to a consent. Whatever was happened, Kakashi must've had a pretty good reason to lie about his being sick. And whatever it was, if ANYONE was going to find out and beat the shit out of him, it would be you. THEN you'd let Sakura and her superhuman strength handle things.

"Shima-kun?" You called, turning around to see that the shop owner was right behind you, leaning back against the walls with his arms crossed. He simply nodded, giving you the approbation that you needed to get the day off. Thank god he always seemed to pop up and listen to things when you needed him to!

//----------------------------------\\

"KAKASHI!" you roared throughout the apartment, slamming the door open and angrily stomping inside, heading towards the bedroom, since you hadn't seen him in the living room or kitchen/dining room.

And what you found was, without a doubt, NOT something you thought you would find.

Books littered the floor, bed and dresser, all opened at random pages, though, from what you could see, not one of them DIDN'T concern an other world. One at your feet, from what you could read, spoke about the possibility of there being a world join to theirs, to the shinobi world, and that a certain clan might possess the ability to travel freely between those worlds. You advanced further in the room, finding that Kakashi had been sitting beside the book-ridden bed, reading one of the hundred books in the room, when he'd fallen asleep. So.. .He had found an excuse not to go training because he wanted to find a way to bring you home..?

You sighed and started cleaning up here and there, closing and stacking the ridiculous amount of books. Where the hell he'd picked them all up, you didn't even think you WANTED to know. Heaving one of the biggest sighs of your life, you plopped down beside Kakashi, who was, you realised, sleeping on the last book you had missed.

Sighing again, you pushed yourself up to your feet, and headed back outside, not before draping a blanket over Kakashi's shoulders, whispering a faint thank you to his ear, and kissing his forehead.

You had promised Sakura you would meet her back at the store in an hour(which was about the time it had taken to get back home, clean up, lounge around for ten seconds and head back) with information on WHY Kakashi had skipped training. Though, you pondered on a way to explain everything without giving away the 'other world' part, and the fact that he was trying to find a way to get you ho-

THAT'S IT!

"Sakura-chan!" You called, the pink haired girl's attention snapping to you when she heard your voice, and started towards you. "I think we should talk about this somewhere else.." You whispered to her ear, pointing at a bar not too far from where you stood.

//----------------------------------\\

"...So you see, that's why he's trying to look up a few things from my country... I was exiled for a certain reason and he's tryingt o find a way to bypass the laws or find a loophole to help me go back home..." you sighed, gripping your glass of heated sake ever so tightly. "And the fact that my house was burned down and that I lost everything doesn't help at all."

"I see..." Sakura uttered softly, looking down at her glass of water(you'd forbade her to drink underaged). "So he's doing all this for you? That's strange, he's never really done anything like this before..." she muttered, taking an other gulp of water.

"He's never faced this kind of situation before, either." You shrugged, letting your head drop on the table. "The thing is, I'm not even sure I WANT to go home anymore..."

"Well, maybe you should tell him before he takes things a little too far." Sakura offered, tilting her head to the side.

"But HE'S the reason I don't want to go back!" you groaned, froze, and slapped your hands over your mouth. "YOU. HEARD. NOTHING."

"...H-hai!" Sakura replied, eyes almost as wide as yours.

"...S-so anyways." You muttered, in a feeble attempt to change the subject. "Oh, right, I forgot to ask; are you going out with Naruto?" You asked, now your turn to tilt your head.

"WHAT?!"

"Well what? You're always saying he's annoying and looking at him in this WAY when he says something that would strike a chord..." you muttered, looking away.

"That doesn't mean he KNOWS..."

"Then I don't know anything." You said with a wink, talking an other rather obnoxiously large gulp of sake, and almost choking yourself to death.

Well, THIS certainly would have been an eventful day!


	8. Hen na ame no hi desu

"...Mom?" I called out tentatively, searching throughout the apparently empty house. Weird. I could've sworn I heard her talking or something like that... I continued to look through the few rooms in the house. I sighed in relief when I saw her in the living room, with my father and brother. "Mom, I've been looking all over for y-"

"I can't believe they haven't found her yet..!" she sobbed, my father rubbing comforting circles in her back while my brother seemed to sob at her sides. I never saw my brother cry. Well, never REMEMBERED seeing him cry.

"Don't worry mom..." my brother sniffled, resting his head on her shoulder, his wife probably out in the car or something. Man I hated that bitch. "She's strong, right? She.. .She'll have found a way out. Right? I mean, she always was..." he sobbed again, his voice trailing off as he couldn't even finish his sentence.

They... They were talking about me? I had disappeared? Really? And even my dad... I saw my dad cry once, when my dog died of cancer, when he remember he'd never so much as cried for his grandfather when HE had died of cancer. He was crying now, as opposed to three seconds ago, when he seemed to be the only strong pillar there.

"..You can't hear me.. Can you..?" I called out vaguely, my dog's head popping up. I found myself looking straight at him. He could see me..?

Bud(my dog) got up and chomped onto an old napkin and chewed up pen on the ground. He lazily came back, slumping back down on the floor and staring up at me. What the..? He wanted me to WRITE something? But my dog wasn't even smart enough to differentiate PAIN from PLEASURE! He couldn't' POSSIBLY catch on that I wanted to write something to my PARENTS!

Begrudgingly, I took away the pen and napkin from Bud(who seemed resilient into letting go of his latest finds), and scribbled down something.

'I'm fine, you guys! I don't know how it is I can see you and you can't see me, but all I can say is NARUTO. I'm in their world, some how. I think I can't come back, so good b'

I tried to write more, but the pen fell through my hand, and bud suddenly started barking. He never barked for no reason. I was fading away? Wait, no, I can't... Just let me say good bye!!

You sat up in a jolt, tears streaming down your face, beads of sweat trickling down your neck. It wasn't even two in the morning, yet! You swore at the excessively early time, staring up at Kakashi, sleeping peacefully in his bed(which you had taken care NOT to sleep in, that night). You wiped your brow with the back of your hand and looked around for a bit. Kakashi's room seemed so much more inviting at night... Everything seemed calm. Dark, but calm. And everything was so neat; it's like he was some sort of neat freak. You'd never really noticed. Not like you cared much, anyways. Anything was better than the way you left things in your room...

Speaking of home, what the hell was that dream about..? It seemed so real, but you knew it wasn't. Though, you muchly would've loved it to be! You would've loved to leave a note to your parents, telling them were you were, and that you were alright. Saying goodbye wasn't even needed. You just wanted to tell them you were okay... That you were alive.

You sighed and got up, deciding that a nice BIG cup of coffee loaded with sugar was just the thing you needed. You groaned a few times on the way, though; Hitaru had really overworked you yesterday. Kendo was SO HARD! Even though you were just beginning, you were already starting to think that MAYBE you should quite. After all, your bones and muscles were SCREAMING for you to stop putting them through such intense and prolonged torture. You shrugged it off and stumbled into the kitchen, nimbly trying to find the mugs, coffee, filters and that stupid little coffee machine you'd spotted last week.

You sat down into one of the dining room chairs, staring around you at the darkened room. Everything seemed so calm without the sun and... Kakashi around. You had to admit, things always seemed a little happier, more active, with the silver-haired jounin around. And that WAS weird, considering all he ever did was read and make your life a little harder to live, what with constant teasing and annoying, But, you supposed, it was his way of showing he care.

"He could try to find a less exhuberating way..." you shrugged, finding yourself staring at the coffee pot. It was almost done filling... Back home, you'd take at least two cups of coffee a day. Not only because you adored the taste(when black and loaded with sugar), but because of the momentary boost, and the calm, soothing sensation afterward.

Even in high school, your friends kept on calling you a junkie. A coffee junkie. But your ex, well, HE wasn't any better..! He brought AND bought coffee at school every day! You, back then, only took coffee on occasions. When you didn't have time to eat breakfast in the morning. You found it cut your appetite. Well, until lunch. By then, like everyone else, you were STARVING.

Speaking of school, coffee was ready. You once again stumbled to your feet(almost tripping over the invisible crack in the floor), and poured yourself a cup of oh-so delicious smelling coffee. You smiled at the memories it brought; the mornings when your brother would pay for breakfast out at the restaurant, the early Saturdays when you'd sit with your parents and just laugh about their days at work...

You sighed again as you let two spoons of sugar drop into the mug, and hesitantly dipped your upper lip. Just warm enough, you mused, before taking a sip and sighing, but this time, you were content. It's as if the entire apartment had lighten up. You skimmered back to the chair beside the table and sipped your coffee lightly, reminiscing what had happened in the past three and a half weeks. You met Kakashi, you met Hitaru and Hirishima, Genma, Gai, Kurenai, Anko(though it was more like a 'Oh, so YOU'RE that girl...'), Iruka, Naruto and Sakura. You'd gone shopping on more than one occasion, found a job and started training in kendo. Oh, and got injured twice at work. Those slashes still hurt...

"...It's barely two in the morning..." You heard someone grumble ahead of you, and you smirked. So? Who cares if it's barely two? You weren't tired, you were actually quite traumatised by what you'd dreamt, not to mention that you were as lively as a-

"K-Kakashi...? Y-you're n-not wearing y-your..." you stuttered, blinking at the perfectly exposed face in front of you. Sure, it was dark, sure, you weren't a cat and you didn't have nocturnal vision... But it didn't take some night vision goggles to see a FACE!

One of Kakashi's hand's shot up to his face, two fingers running over his lips, and an other hand grabbing at his neck, realising the mask hand rolled down. He swore loudly and looked down at you, but you had already turned your head to stare away. After all, it would only make things worse if you stared like someone who had never see a nose and mouth, right? Though, when you turned your head around, you found that Kakashi's face(re-masked, sadly) was in yours. You could even feel his breath against your chin as he glared at you both BOTH eyes.

"I saw nothing, I heard nothing, I said nothing and I'll never talk about this to an other living soul. I swear!" you blurted, craning your neck back a bit. Way too close for comfort(even if it was a little nice..)

"...I was expecting you to ask why I keep this mask on all the time." Kakashi said quietly, pushing himself back up on his feet, slumping down on the only other chair.

"Not really. I mean, it's your life, do what you want with it." You shrugged, taking an other sip of your cup of coffee. DAMN that stuff was so freakin' good.

The next twenty minutes were spent in silence, as you mused over what to do with your day. Of course, you had to go to work... Later in the morning. Afterwards, you might actually buy an other bed and stuff it in Kakashi's spare room. Yeah, and THEN what? You had nothing else to do... Hitaru was out on a mission for something like three days. And like hell you'd train during those three days. Even IF Hitaru would probably chop you up limb from limb for not training or at least reviewing what she taught you...

Oh, and you were going to need glasses. You'd left home without them, and those splitting headaches you had to go through were getting on your nerves... And your face felt way too naked without them. Not to mention that Hitaru and Hirishima had told you that you might want to see better if you didn't want to get killed. And it sounded like a pretty good idea...

You sighed again, and stumbled, yet again, to your feet to place the empty coffee mug in the sink.

"I'm going back to sleep..." you said, yawning almost on command, and walking through the hall, to the room, and letting myself fall on the ever so comfortable futon. And pillow. You never forgot the pillows; you always snuggled up to them. Though you always preferred snuggling up to someone... But, oh well.

//----------------------------------\\

An other dreamless, er.. .Morning. You were actually disappointed that you couldn't see your family again... You would've loved to see the follow-up to that whole note story. You would've liked to see their faces just one last measly time... Though you groaned at rolled on your stomach, stuffing your face in your pillow, running a hand through your hair as you pushed yourself up. If was, you had to admit, the most beautiful morning you'd ever seen..! Birds weren't chirping, AND there was a thunderstorm. You'd always loved thunderstorms. You smiled lightly when you got up and saw Kakashi was still sleeping; he always looked like a kid like that...

Careful not to make too much noise, you grabbed the clothes you'd need for the day and headed for the shower, intent on making things as quick as possible so you didn't make TOO much noise. And so that you could have time to enjoy the storm before going out to work.

And it's in the shower you realised that you'd be soaked once you got at the shop; you swore, cursing the fact that Kakashi seemed to be ignorant and didn't OWN an umbrella. You'd have to buy one on your way to work...

"I need an other cup of coffee." You shrugged, once again walking up to the small coffee machine and preparing what you called the elixir of life.

After gulping down the remainder of the mug you had(since you had about fifteen minutes to get to the shop, which is FAR from enough time), you grabbed the coat you'd slung over the chair when you got out of the shower, and ran outside, in the pouring rain.

You had to run ALL The way there. You were cursing the fact that you weren't BORN in Konoha and attended the ninja academy. It would've made things SO easier! That way, you would've been able to run fifteen minutes non-stop and still have at LEAST enough breath to explain to your boss why it is you got to work late.

"It's okay, calm down..!" Shima laughed, waving his hands in front of him. "Look, you're soaked, out of breath and you don't look like you've had NEARLY enough sleep last night..! Relax!"

"Th..thanks..!" you panted, bending over your knees in a vain attempt to catch your already evaporated breath. "So.. Where do I start?" You asked, finding you could speak a little more in one breath, as you took your coat off.

"You can start by drying yourself off while cleaning the new shipment of Katana that arrived overnight." Shima smiled, pointing at three obnoxiously large boxes. Well, you sure had your work cut out for you today...

//----------------------------------\\

"DONE!" You exclaimed, almost jumping for joy. The box weren't just BIG, they were LOADED with katanas..! It was crazy; only cleaning the first box had taken an hour and a half...! Al in all, it had taken you four hours to clean the lot, and it was MORE than time for you to go on your lunch break.

After Shima laughed, congratulated you and let you go off to eat, you ran across the street to a small little family owned restaurant you went to a few times in the week. When you were too lazy or pressed in time to make yourself a decent lunch.

After having eaten until you were just about ready to burst, to saluted the owner and ran across the street again, finding that neither the rain nor thunder had let up. Just your luck. And CRAP, you had forgot to buy an umbrella on your way to the shop. Not that you would've had the time, either. Oh well.

"Oh! Yuuko-chan, someone came by and left a message for you. I didn't read it, he just said you give it to you." He smiled, handing you a small scroll. That's something else, you thought, I'll have to get used to. You shrugged it off and unrolled the thing anyways.

'Dear Miss Hishimoto,

I deeply apologise for the last minute notice, but Hitaru Higakura will no longer be available to give you your daily kendo training sessions. She has recently come back from a mission and was found to be injured quite severely. She will be spending several weeks in the hospital. You are welcome to go visit her during the appropriate hours, although it would be best you wait four to ten days. She needs her rest.

Sincerely,

Okawa Higakura

PS- Kakashi says you could've gone with an umbrella. He keeps one on his shelf.'

"...Oh sure. Tell me AFTER I decide to go RUNNING THROUGH THE EFFING RAIN!!!" you yelled at the scroll, shutting up and blinking when you noticed Shima was staring at you, grinning, a brow raised.

"Trouble with your roommate?"

You shrugged.

"Something like that."

//----------------------------------\\

"Taidaimaaaaaaaa!" You called throughout the house, not even caring that you were soaked to the bone. Hell, you got that stupid bed you kept on daydreaming about. And it didn't even cost HALF as much as you expected it to!

"You seem happy." You heard Kakashi comment from the living room, not even expecting him to answer you. Wasn't he supposed to go train with Naruto and Sakura? Then again, it WAS raining... So maybe he called it off? Well, in any case, you shrugged off your (soaked) coat and shoes, shaking some of the water out of your hair.

"I have a few reasons to be. Got a bed AND I worked my ass off so I'm getting a huge pay this week." You said with a cheeky grin, heading to Kakashi's room to change. Like hell you were staying in the same clothes after all that rain!

"You got the message?" Kakashi asked in a weird bored and yet curious tone. You shrugged while putting on one of the shirts you'd stolen from Kakashi(you liked a few loose things once in a while), a jacket three sizes too big for you, and those famous black pants you always rolled up to the knees.

"Apparently, so did you..." You muttered, slumping down on the couch next to Kakashi, who was reading the same book he always read.

You had never known exactly what relationship Kakashi had had with Hitaru. YOU had written down MANY many times that they had both been together since their early childhood, but split paths when Hitaru got switched to your world... And all those hidden feeling you had written down came into line as well. But... What had REALLY happened...?

"Just friends." Kakashi said after a while, catching you slightly off guard. "We were just friends. Never felt anything more." He specified, after you had muttered a faint 'what...?'. It actually freaked you out how he could read what you were thinking sometimes.

After a few awkward minutes in silence(well, for you, at least), you leaned over Kakashi's shoulder, resting your chin on it. Damn, he hadn't even reached the good part, yet...

YES, because you had read that particular tome of Icha Icha Paradise. It WAS, the one that was on his shelf when you first got there, after all.

"...what?" Kakashi asked after an OTHER while, chancing a glance your way.

"...Nothing. Just thinking you don't read all that fast for someone who reads twenty-four seven..." You muttered, resuming your original place on the couch. You randomly stared down at your wanting, gaping at the time. "Uh, you haven't had dinner yet, right?" you asked, and Kakashi nodded.

It didn't even take a second for you to get up and reach the fridge, snatching the chicken breasts, olive oil, peppers, onions and celery. Without forgetting the rice. You had to come up with something on the spot, right? Your mom always fried chicken breasts with home-made sauces in the pan and just threw in whatever else she could find.

"Smells good." Kakashi commented, after you let the plate drop in front of him. Well, it had BETTER smell good! After all... If it didn't TASTE good, at least it would have a killer smell, right? You silently watched as he raised the chopsticks.. Though then you turned away and started down at your own plate. Like hell he'd ever take his mask down with you staring.

"..Really is good..." You muttered to yourself, not really expecting onions, pepper, celery and olive oil to taste this good with chicken..! You should open your own... Eh, no, maybe not. Dealing with sharp stuff, flammable things AND food all day long..? That just called for a disaster. "What do you thi-"

You froze. Why the hell did he ALWAYS have to take his mask off in front of YOU?!

"S-sorry." You stuttered again, getting up and almost throwing your empty plate in the sink.

...Kakashi was cursing himself to hell and back again. TWICE! Two a-freaking times you'd seen his face. Not even Tsunade had seen him TWICE! Once, and that had been an accident. The thing was torn..! Well, whatever.

Though, he couldn't help but think that, in some odd way, you were pretty cute when you were flustered... Though he kept those thoughts at that, not bothering to flip his book open. That would only cause THOSE ideas to pop up again. The same type that had popped up the morning you'd crawled back into bed with him.

...Yeah, he had to stop thinking about you.

"Oh, uh, by the way, Hirishima's stopping by that store tomorrow and dropping off the bed here with a friend. So, uh, think you can move it into the spare room tomorrow..?" You asked, prancing back into the dining room. "I already cleaned that room a few days ago, so it shouldn't be much of a problem."

You disappeared in the hallway again, picking up the forgotten pillow on Kakashi's room floor. You'd already moved the futon into what had become your own room. Why you'd done that..?

Reminded you of your own room...

"Oyasumi Nasai!!" You called, before letting yourself fall on the futon again, and closing the light in the room.


	9. Nani ga Yaoi desu ka?

You never really fond of waking up late in the morning. You actually weren't fond of waking up PERIOD, but these days, it had got a little better. And the best part WAS, you hadn't had an other one of those weird dreams. That little number had really made you think Friday(aka yesterday), and you'd been homesick half the day..! You only seemed to get over your being away from home when you were around Kakashi. But, then again, who WOULDN'T6 the guy was just so nice when you got to know him... SURE, he didn't open up that much... But, then again, did you? In fact, you weren't really sure you'd ever told him anything about you... Aside the fact t hat, obviously, you were from an other world, and that YOU knew more about HIM that he knew. That was pretty much all you thought Kakashi knew. Maybe he knew more because he went to go see Tsunade... But, egh. You figured he'd be too lazy for THAT.

You groaned after a while, the unfiltered beams of light hitting you square in the face. That's something else you'd have to buy for your room(because you HAD claimed it as YOURS): CURTAINS. There was no freakin' way in hell you were going to wake up to mister Sun every day and be in the mood to kill everyone afterwards.

After a while of cursing the sun in various languages(french, english, japanese, spanish.. you name it!), you pushed yourself off from the futon you had slept in that night, and ran a hand through your hair. You'd be surprised how many weird shapes it can take overnight... You always brushed it the second you woke up. And then you got up and got dressed.

Speaking of getting dressed, you'd have to try and find your clothes in this stupid room... You would've cursed it saying 'stupid little room', but, frankly, ANYTHING would've been bigger than the hole you once called a room, back home. The thing SERIOUSLY WAS small. Like...three meters by four meters. Sure, when you had first moved in, it was nice and all, but as you grew up, it somehow became SMALLER and SMALLER. You couldn't even remember how many times you told your mom you wanted to migrate into an other room. But she always said 'next year, sweetie' or even 'when your brother moves out, maybe'. But NO! Even when your brother HAD moved out, you were still condemned to that stupid small room of yours.

"...Pakkun?" You grumbled, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes lazily, staring down at the small chocolate brown dog. What the HELL was he doing here? An then, in a flash, so many gruesome scenarios passed through your heads, it wasn't even funny.

"So, you're Yuuko, right?" He asked in light conversation, though you had to admit, talking to a dog was of the utmost oddities. Even if you WERE in Konoha, talking to a dog would just get a helluva lot of getting used to.

"Uhhh, yeah...? I have a hard time imagining myself being anyone else." You replied cautiously, eyeing the brown dog with some weird mix of distrust and weirded-out...ed...ness. "But, uh, without intending to be RUDE, but what are you doing here?" You asked after a while, propping yourself up to sit against the wall.

"Kakashi told me to tell you that he was going to go by the shop you work at and go see Himishimo or something for your bed. He said he shouldn't bother doing something he can do alone." Pakkun replied, baking himself comfortable on your borrowed futon.

"...Uh, whaaaatever." You muttered, getting up in an other flutter of indigo silk. You seriously LOVE your night-gown and bathrobe. You had a hard time imagining going to bed without them anymore! Because, yes, you even slept with the bath robe. It sort of reminded you of that Obi your ex had got from his grandmother... Deceased grandmother. Funny thing was that you two were still REALLY good friends. As opposed to ex #2 who had been a jackass when you broke up. And he told you he didn't even MEAN to act pissed off!

As you stumbled into the kitchen, you found that a cup of coffee and breakfast already waiting for you on the table. So, Kakashi had left moments prior..? You smiled lightly at the table, though. It was nice of him to make breakfast for you like this once in a while. Though, when you sat down, you noticed a note under the plate.

_'Ohayou, Yuuko-chan!_

_I left you Pakkun; I thought you might like a little company today since I'm spending most __fo__r__ the day out with Naruto, Sakura and picking up that infamous bed of yours. As for breakfast... You might want to be a little careful. I tried keeping it warm with chakra; I left a six this morning..._

_Hope you slept well!_

_Kakashi'_

You smirked lightly at the note, before something clicked in your head. You read over the part with the breakfast and the chakra... And the time he left... Six in the morning? Your eyes snapped down to your watch. 8:27AM. Well damn. He'd gone through making breakfast, keeping it warm(as well as the coffee, you supposed), AND left early? You almost died when you realised THAT. KAKASHI. Leaving EARLY? There must have been something important he had to do, like go see Tsunade or something... Or maybe it was Obito, Yondaime or Rin's anniversary? Death or birthday, whatever...

After shrugging everything off and deciding that you better eat before a certain dog would do it for you, you slumped into the chair that had already been pulled away when you saw the note, and hungrily dug into the food that had been prepared for you. It wasn't too hot; in fact, it seemed that it was JUST the right temperature for you. Again, you shrugged it off, and ate your heart out, taking in the delicious scent of the cup of coffee afterwards.

Since it was Saturday, you didn't have much of anything to do. You would've gone to visit Hitaru as the hospital.. Though you would rather keep note of the warning that said you should wait a few days before visiting and decided to stop by Tuesday after work. Which reminded you your kendo classes would be suspended for a while; perfect! You were starting to loose your sanity and tolerance to pain, anyways. Maybe this break was a good thing. You berated yourself; that did NOT mean you would allow yourself to sit around and get fat! No way! You'd worked DAMN hard to lose those god knows how many pounds during the last two weeks and a half, damn you if you ever took them back!

Instead of staring out the window in nostalgia(like you did most mornings when you had time to spare), you decided to snatch one of the various books Kakashi had read in the past and crashed on the couch in the living room with your cup of coffee. Hell, if you had nothing else to do today, the LEAST you could do is remind yourself of your younger days, right? After all, those books MIGHT be rated M(or NC-17), but that didn't mean you never talked about sex when you were at school(elementary AND high school)! Hell, your only subject of discussion at lunch(well, most of the time) at high school WAS sex! And you talked about pretty much anything with your best friends from all over the world, whom you knew from Gaia Online.

You made yourself comfortable, flipped open the book.. Cursed yourself after a few seconds when you realised it was a MANGA book, and should thus be read in the classic Japanese way(like pretty much any of the books in Konoha, come to think of it), flipped it around and started reading, absent-mindedly petting the top of Pakkun's head, who'd just randomly decided to hop up on the couch beside you.

//--------------------\\

It was around two in the afternoon when you decided to do something of your day. Though you were reluctant to get up and off the couch, and Pakkun only made things WORSE. You missed your dog... That big lump of fur you so affectionately called Bud. A nice border collie and lab mix. You LOVED that dog. Even though he... Sorta had the habit of wanting to tear your arm off. Though, it wasn't MEAN! It was just rough play. Because, seriously, that dog wouldn't even hurt a fly. Not... Intentionally. He might accidentally kill it by playing with it(pretty much like your cat and birds), but he'd never WANT to hurt anyone just to inflict pain.

After having slipped into a pair of what always had appeared to you to be some kind of jeans, a forest green tank-top and a loose jacket(something like three sizes too big for you), you sighed and decided to head out and go find a few things you told yourself you'd need. Like curtains, for example. Or an umbrella that you'll leave hanging on your doorknob instead of wherever the freak Kakashi keeps the damn thing.

After having slipped into a pair of what always had appeared to you to be some kind of jeans, a forest green tank-top and a loose jacket(something like three sizes too big for you), you sighed and decided to head out and go find a few things you told yourself you'd need. Like curtains, for example. Or an umbrella that you'll leave hanging on your doorknob instead of wherever the freak Kakashi keeps the damn thing. Oh. and stuff for when your period would roll around. Which was bound to be anytime, now, since you had got out of the damned week of hell the day before you climbed onto the roof and disappeared the day after...

You sighed one last time, finding Pakkun was following you out of the apartment, and locked the door behind you. Normally, you wouldn't so much as THINK about locking the door. In Canada, people don't lock their doors. Especially since you're brother's there all day. You never HAD to lock it. Though ever since you came home to a grumbling Kakashi and a messy kitchen, well, let's say you remembered to lock the door now.

You were happily bounding down the streets of Konoha, a few people casting you weird glances. After all, Pakkun WAS following you. And normally, that either meant you were someone VERY important that Kakashi was too busy to watch himself, that you were some super awesome Kunoichi(you wish!), or that you were somehow emotionally linked to the elder jounin... You wish. But you knew that nothing was possible. I mean, you were miss Average. You even though you were a little fat until you picked up those kendo lessons with Hitaru. You weren't particularly good in anything but writing and drawing, not to mention that you weren't really one to have a lot of friends at school. You had your bunch of seven, and you stuck together all the time. You didn't want any other friends, nor NEED any others. After all, they all seemed a little shallow, anyways.

Your feet never really lead you in the sanest places. You always wound up in crazy(in the beautiful way) places back home. You never even really knew where you were going to wind up when you went on those long walks of yours. And this time, in Konoha, was no different. You had wound up in a rather isolated park, in the middle of what seemed some kind of ghostly calm residential area. It really was a beautiful place, though! With a pond, benches, a few big leafy trees, and even duck IN the pond! You really DID fall in love with the place. You made an other mental note to remember your way back home, to be able to come here on weekends when you have nothing else to do.

"Having fun getting lost in nice places?" Kakashi spoke behind you, as you were sitting by the pond, just staring at the ducks. Cute blokes, they are. Really! With their white feathers... You always wondered what it would be like to have wings. Alas, that dream had vanished when you were three and learned that no, humans CAN NOT grow wings, or fly for that matter. Stupid Peter Pan.

"Something like that." You whispered, still staring intently at the two bird on the water. Come to think of it, Kakashi was sorta right. You WERE having fun getting lost in nice places. Because, indeed, you WERE lost. You figured you'd just find your way home. Eventually. Even though you were already starting to make up an excuse as to why you 'mysteriously' wound up on Naruto's doorstep...

You sighed and reluctantly stood up, knowing that Kakashi was probably going to tell you that he needed you back at the apartment to decide where your utterly simplistic self wanted that bed to be. Not that you actually CARED where the hell he'd put it. Heck, a bed's a freakin' BED! You sighed again, your simplistic self wanting to lounge around the pond a while longer. You cast a last loving glance at the duck, before turning around...

And conveniently ramming into that pervy jounin of yours. What the heck? Wasn't he sitting on the bench a few seconds ago..? Oh. Right. He's a NINJA. Shinobi do that weird flash appearance thing. You had almost forgotten.

"You know, it's rude to stand in someone's way and not apologise." You said flatly, stepping around him, though finding that Kakashi had gripped your right arm. "WHAT?" you shrugged, finding yourself nose to nose with him, a little closer than what you were comfortable with.

"...why can you do that...?" He asked, his voice sending shivers down your spine(as though the proximity hadn't), his breath tingling on your lips and chin.

"Am I interrupting something I rather not?" came a voice behind Kakashi, and you inwardly sighed in relief when you saw it was Okawa. And when you REALISED it was him, you jumped away from Kakashi and scratching the back of my head.

"N-not at all! I was just, uh.. Showing him the scar on my lip! See? Uh, maybe not.. Most people can't see it from a distance, so I showed him!" you laughed nervously, stepping aside as Okawa walked forwards to talk to Kakashi. You figured it wasn't really your place or right to listen to what they had to say to each other; after all, Okawa WAS Tsunade's messenger. So he, without a doubt, had information on Kakashi's next mission. Which made your heart sink a little. Having Pakkun around today wasn't that bad, but being completely alone AGAIN...?

And then came Kakashi's question. Why can you do WHAT? Hell, you can't even mould CHAKRA! Like heck you'd be able to do something worth of Kakashi's distraught attention. You sighed again, turning around and bent on trying to find your way back home alone. Meanwhile, it'd leave you with MORE than enough time to figure out what Kakashi said. And... Did. Which sent an other shiver up your spine; why the hell did he HAVE to be so close you? Shrugging the thing off, you told yourself it might be better if you didn't guess anything. You might just wound up deceived, Again...

//--------------------\\

"...Okaeri!" You called from your room, comfortably installed on YOUR bed, reading the volume of Icha Icha Paradise you'd started that morning. Which you'd never finished because you had to go take a walk... On which you HADN'T even bought an umbrella, or curtains. Darn. Tomorrow.

"So, when are you leaving?" you asked in fake curiosity, not really wanting the hear the answer. It was probably going to be something like 'tonight' or 'tomorrow at dawn'. Neither of which sounding to good to you at the moment...

"Leaving? And why should I leave?" Kakashi asked back, leaning against your doorway.

"But.. I thought you had a mission." You said in some dim form of disbelief as you tore your eyes away from the (VERY)graphic novel you were reading. "Okawa came for that... Didn't he?"

"...No." Kakashi answered with one(visibly)raised brow, and, once again, you could tell he was smirking. Damn him. First, he asks a random question and THEN he makes fun of your perfectly logical assumptions! That should be considered a legal offence or something. It's downright RUDE.

"Then what DID he come see you for?" You asked again, slightly irritated, closing the book and sitting upright on your oh-so-comfortable bed. You seriously fell in love with the thing the minute you saw it in your room when you came home. After... About two hours of finding your way back. And even there, you got home because you'd run into Genma(much to your demise), and HE had led you back home. Or, something like that.

"To tell me Hitaru's state was stable and that you would be able to go see her in two days' time. He would've told you himself, but you walked away before he could." Kakashi said blandly, flipping open a book identical to yours.

"...Oh." you answered weakly, flipping back onto your stomach, and continuing your reading of that ubber graphic novel you loved so much. "Sorry for assuming and not making dinner." You added in an undertone, not tearing your eyes away from your book. In fact, you burring your face into it even MORE.

"...You didn't make dinner" Kakashi echoed, raising his brow yet AGAIN!

"No. I thought you'd be gone or busy packing. My bad." You answered plainly, still not looking up from your book.

"Care to go out instead?" he muttered, still buried in his own book.

"Thought you'd never ask!" You replied playfully, and in the blink of an eye, you were already at the door. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

//--------------------\\

"Thanks for paying." You thanked Kakashi, while latching onto his arm. Like hell you cared what it looked like to someone else; you were just thanking the guy for paying for you, too. After you discovered you forgot your wallet AND that Kakashi told you he was planning on paying anyways.

And as we continued walking, as we rounded a corner, there were both Naruto and Sasuke, feverishly kissing the night away like two lovers who hadn't so much as seen each other in ages. SasuNaru fangirls everywhere would be squealing and remembering this moment forever...

TCHYEAH! You wish. Sasuke wasn't even around. Though, two people still WERE making out like there was no tomorrow. Though, sorry yaoi fans, but it was NOT Sasuke and Naruto. More like a very flustered Sakura pinned to a wall by a lovesick Naruto.

"...This calls for a detour." I said after a split second of seeing the two at it, dragging Kakashi away. SERIOUSLY! In the middle of the street! Kids these days have no self-respect... Making out in front of everyone like that. Tch.

"I was wondering when that would happen." Kakashi snickered, obviously referring to Naruto and Sakura. In fact, you thought that EWVERYONE was wondering when SOMETHING interesting between the two would happen. It was only a matter of time before Sakura clicked, and a little more time for Naruto to realise it and kick into MATURE drive.

Er, in the brain. Not in the bed, mind you.

"I know a LOT of people back home who'll be disappointed if they ever hear THIS..." you sighed, hanging your head. Oh, and if you'd ever tell them, it's YOUR head they'd have, not Sakura's. Damn those stupid yaoi-crazed fans you were a part of.

"And why's that?" Kakashi asked, snapping you out of your little world in which you died in many creative ways, at the hands of thousands of billions of rabid yaoi fangirls.

"People I know prefer seeing Naruto with Sasuke than with Sakura... It's a general consensus; people hate her like hell." You sighed, hanging your head back to look at the starry and partly cloudy night sky.

"...Sasuke and Naruto. Together. As in...?"

"Yes, as in emotionally involved. Both mouth and bed. Stories are actually pretty cute..." You mused, remembering all the yaoi fanfictions about the two you'd read. But of course, the yaoi fanfics about Fullmetal Alchemist were a LOT more numerous. Elricest had always been your weak spot...

"Sorry I asked..." Kakashi sighed, staring down at me. He might've thought I couldn't see him since I was staring up at the sky, but I DID. And I could vaguely notice him smiling. Or maybe grinning. Though I didn't say anything about it. It was pretty enjoyable being looked at by an older and MUCH sexier jounin.

"We should go out like this more. It's pretty fun." I giggled(for the first time since I arrived in Konoha) and coughed to cover it a little. "I mean, this way, I wouldn't have to slave over the stove every other day, and you wouldn't have all that money burning a hole in your pockets anymore!"

"...Maybe. Sounds like a good idea to me." Kakashi encouraged, and you had to admit, you nearly fainted at his approval. You were expecting him to brush you off and say he didn't have time to go out for dinner more than once every two weeks... But then again, YOU were living with him, so you'd be able to beat the shit out of him because you KNOW he has time to lose.

"Oh, and by the way, I'm going to be-"

"At the pond tomorrow. I know."

"...I'm that easy to read?"

"No, I just guessed."

"...Baka."


	10. Akatsuki? Hontou desu ka!

The next day, just like you'd told Kakashi, you had headed stright to the small secluded parkl after work. For some strange reason, Hirishima had let you off early. Well, you guessed it was because you had already cleaned everyhting that had arrived, and that you were trying, at the end of the day, to clean off the bloodstains you left on the floor. Shim just laughed and sent you off with you (obnoxiuously large)pay for the week.

You never really knew how you could make so much money just by cleaning a few sharp things. It's not like your life was on the line, rioght? Well... In your case, that might be it. But, well, anyways. Point is, you were now sitting on a bench in the park, staring at the pond. The ducks were there today, and you had thought about bringing a few leftover bread slices to give them. They seemed to like it. That thought put a small smile on your face.

"At least you're having a good time. I'm as bored as hell, duckies." You shrugged after having brought your knees up to your chest. Thank god the bench was large enough for you to do that. Otherwise you would've had to endure a painful normal sitting position.

And that's when something hit you square on the head. After having cursed once or twice and rubbed your head, you looked to your right to find a small orange book. You recognised it on the spot. But what struck you as strange was that it was exactly the same novel you were reading at the shop earlier that morning while you were waiting for Shima to come down and tell you what to do. The same novel, you were sure, you had in your lap.

And, as a matter of a fact, the very same book WAS in your lap. You quirked a brow; why the hell would a BOOK, out of all things, fall from the sky?

"Sorry, my bad." You heard behind you, and you nearly jumped three feet in the air. Nearly. If you hadn't recognised the voice and silky feeling of that silver hair against your cheek, you probably would've screamed your lungs out and said you were going to be raped or something.

"Why'd you buy a-an other one?" you asked, cursing that silky silver hair for making you stutter. Not only did Kakashi FEEL good(his hair, mind you!), but he had to SMELL good, too. Though you quickly hid your uneasiness with a shiver. Thank god for the chilling air.

"Because a little theif came into my room to steal my only copy." Kakashi answered slyly, jumping over the bench to sit beside you. The duckls flinched a bit. You chuckled inwardly; why was it that, of all things, you chose to notice the DUCKS? It wasn't like there wasn't anything else that was (WAY)more interesting that a few ducks.

"Heh, well, uh... Any way I can repay you?" you asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of your head. You had taken the thing without thinking Kakashi was reading the same thing..! You thought he was a lot further than just the... Seventh tome. Then again, maybe he was re-reading the entire series...? And seeing as he was addicted to the damn thing, it didn't surprise you that he'd go buy an other one... You should've seen that coming.

"...Well, there IS one thing I could think of." Kakashi said in a low tone, and you didn't even realise he'd snaked his arm around your shoulders. You thought it was just something meaningless. You often did that to your friends back home, for no valid reason. I mean, you sure as heck weren't a lesbian. Well, as far as you knew, anyways.

"Er, and uh, what would that be?" You asked hesitantly, eying Kakashi curiously. Whatever he was planning behind that mask of his didn't really ring any positive bells in your head. More like a few dozen alarms more than anything.

Alarms… Yeah, that sounded about right. Something about all this felt wrong to you. The way Kakashi was acting, the way everything just seemed too perfect… Not to mention romantic. No, this wouldn't EVER happen with him. Hirishima, MAYBE… But then again, that would be leaning towards incest, since you saw him as a brother, and he saw you as a sister.

Just what the hell was going on..?

"Just go to sleep, Yuuko…" He whispered, uncovering his Sharingan eye. But that's when something in your head slicked. Since when was Kakashi able to use the sharingan in both eyes…? You came to scream out something, but no sound came from between your lips as the world felt like it was being sucked into a black void.

//----------------------------------\

Your head hummed with a dull song of pain, like if a basse drum was pounding in your head. It WASN'T a comfortable feeling, to say the least. It was like someone was struming your neurones like some kind of a guitare. And the worst part was, every time you tried to open your eyes, you found that your head felt like it was going to explode, of be sliced in half. With a VERY blunt knife.

You groaned, wincing in pain as the sound resonated through your skull, almost amplifying your headache tenfold. Well, getting up was out of the question, so was talking and opening your eyes. All you had left was listening to what was going on around you. And, to be honest, it was BORING as freakin' HELL! No one was talking, and no one was walking, as far as you could hear. There wasn't even the slightest indication that someone else aside you was alive.

…If you WERE alive.

…Well, of course you were. You wouldn't feel any searing, tear-drawing pain if you were dead, right? That somewhat reassured you, though you were still desperate to find out were you were and what had happened.

…What had happened? You were blacked out by Kakashi was what happened! Why, the minute you would lay your hands on that stupid little neck of hi-

Wait. That COULDN'T have been Kakashi. He only has the Sharingan in his left eye, not both… And the only other person you knew who could use the Sharingan was Sasuke. And he was LOOONG gone.

And then you thought of Itachi.

And then EVERYTHING came together. You were from an other world, and knew more about Naruto and the outcome of everything than ANYONE actually THERE. Crap, three weeks was all it took for the Akatsuki to find you OUT?! Oh, this wasn't good. They'd squeeze all the information out of you and THEN kill you..! And here you were starting to enjoy life so much more than before. You were too happy to die NOW!!

"I see you're awake." A voice at your right muttered, and you jumped; had Itachi been there all that time? Of course not. You would've AT LEAST heard him breathe. He must've just gotten there… By using that stupid little flashy thing ninjas do.

You winced when you felt two fingers on your forehead; that was NOT helping your KILLER headache..! Though, after a few seconds, you took back that thought. The pain was slowly ebbing away. It was nice. You felt like floating…

That's when your eyes fluttered open. It took a while to get adjusted to the dim lighting, but after a while(and after Itachi had removed his fingers from your forehead), you sat up to look around.

You were in a dakr circular room. There wasn't a single window, though there were two or three mirrors here and there, to give the impression that there WERE windows. Candles were lit here and there for lighting, and you were lying in a high bed, curtains hanging from the high besposts. Everything was either a dark crimson shade or plain black. You liked it, though you couldn't help but feel nervous.

"…Th-thank you." You muttered to Itachi, looking down at the hand in your lap. You weren't going to look the guy in the EYES! Honestly, you were smarter than that.

You didn't receive a response from the older Uchiha, if only some form of a 'hn' and the sound of a cloak fluttering away. Well damn. There you were, in the Akatsuki's hideout, no one knew you had been womannapped(you weren't a kid anymore, you know), and you wer probably going to die. Oh JOOOOOY.

//----------------------------------\

Kakashi's P.O.V 

Yuuko left this morning with my ONLY copy of the seventh Icha Icha Paradise volume again. Not like I cared all that much, she'd just bring it back after work. And I'd just reda the eighth one instead. Though I had to admit, I missed that little book…

It was the end of the day; I'd gone training with Sakura and Naruto again, under the orders of Tsunade, of course. Those two really have gotten better… It bruises my ego a little to think that they can actually beat me, if they put enough effort into it. Maybe I should train more myself. Or ask Tsunade-sama to give me harder missions…

I was heading to the park Yuuko said she would be at after work. I was actually looking forward to seeing her earlier than usual today. That girl really had done a number on me, even though I was still reluctant to see it. I was actually happy to have someone around, even though we were silent around each other most of the time.

Though, I froze when I got to the park.

Ther Yuuko was… With ME. But I was there, on my way to the park. She back up on the bench a little bit, eying the other me curiously. I saw her mouth part in a silent scream when my other self liften his forehead protector, and my book fell to the ground when I saw MATCHING red eyes. Though, before I could do anything ,the pair had vanished.

I could feel my heart pounding in me head, and I raced to go see Tsunade, not even caring for the forgotten novel o nthe ground. I had to get Yuuko back…

No matter what.

//----------------------------------\

You shrugged and looked around the room for the umpteenth time already. There really wasn't anything interesting for a girl to do in that place! EVERYTHING was beyond the normal level of boredom you'd learn to know, AND avoid, for that matter. There weren't any weapons, nothing shiny, no games, books…

Speaking of the devil, you looked down in your lap- THERE it was! You inwardly jumped for joy when you saw the small orange book, cracking open its pages and continuing your reading. Though, you couldn't help but feel uneasy. There you were, reading the time away while a group of rogue ninja were planning your ultimate demise.

"…I have to get out of here…!" you whined, letting yourself fall bvack on the comfortable bed, spreading your arms at your sides.

"And just how do you plan to do that, un?" an OTHER voice asked, at your left this time, making you jump into a sitting position in the bed once more. You were about to cry out the man's name, but you figured that would be a dead giveaway as to who you were…

"D-dare ka?" you masked with a question, backing up the slightest bit.

"You don't need to know my name, un." Deidara replied, crossing his arms. Like you needed to know who he was anywyas. "The leader wants to talk to you, un. Follow me." He said shortly, instantly turning around to leave the room, through a door you hadn't noticed before.

You stumbled out of bed, barefooted, the necklace around your neck jingling with the symbol you adored; the ourobouros. You loved Fullmetal Alchemist ALMOST as much as Naruto. But not quite. And right now, you thought that alchemy would be a darn good fix for this situation. You'd be able to make a tunnel and escape…! Or at least blow stuff up and make doors everywhere and run like the wind. Not that it would help much; they'd eventually catch up to you. And even though you'd been having classes with Hitaru until she got injured(speaking of which, you made a mental not to go see her if you ever got out of there alive), it still wasn't NEAR enough to even survive three seconds in a fight against these guys.

You sighed, hanging your head, your feet quietly padding against the cold floor, following Deidara closely. The LAST thing you wanted was to get lost and bump into someone you DIDN'T want to bump into. Like, say, Zetsu. You know, the human Venus Flytrap? Well yeah.

"We're here, un." He stated after walking for about five minutes, pointing a pair of large ebony doors, then turning around to walk away.

"Wait, you're not coming with me?" you asked nervously, wringing your hands together.

Deidara laughed for a few seconds, before shaking his head and muttering something like 'innocent brat, un' beofre dissapearing into the dark halls. You turned back to the doors, sighing one last time. Might as well put on a brave face, right..?

You took a deep breath and pushed on the double doors, walking into the MUCH brighter room. This one had windows, and a desk. Though the man sitting behind the desk was shrouded in darkness, as was the person standing next to him. You supposed that was the only female in the Akatsuki…

"Takes a seat, please." He said in a low voice, making a shiver or two run up your spine. Well, you were gona die soon. "Do you know why you're here?" he asked after you had sat down in one of the richly decorated chairs.

"N-no, sir. One minute I was in the park in Konoha, and the other I woke up in a bed here, with a splitting headache." You said in a confident tone, staring straight into the Leader's eyes.

"…Do you even know where you hadn't, miss?" He asked, almost completely ignoring your reply, as if the question itself was pointless.

"I'm sorry if this sound rude, sir, but I'd have to be a brainless idiot not to know where I am." You replied a little more harshly, your grip on your hands tightening even more.

"Yes well, at least you know, right?" you heard him chuckled lightly, an other shiver running up your spine. DAMN you hated this guy already..! "Well then, I suppose you would like to know why you're here, right?" he asked, and you nodded stiffly, your gaze still firmly planted into his own. "You see, we've caught wind of the news that a girl from an other world was in Konoha again. And that this particular girl would know much more about our fate than the others."

Your mind went blank. An OTHER girl? Know more than the OTHERS? That means that… Those fanfictions you read so many times; they were actually PLAUSIBLE? They had actualy HAPPENED..? And the Akatsuki… They actually managed to capture them?

"I'm sorry, but I'm just a normal Konohagakure citizen who firmly believes that there IS no other world aside from our own." You answered, giving yourself a mental pat on the back for the tone you had adopted, and managed to keep. "And I'd ask you to let me go home… Though I've figured that since I've actually gotten here once, that you'd never let me get out alive." You added stiffly, wanting to tear your eyes away, but keeping them riveted to the man in front of you.

"Well, I'm not THAT cruel..!" he laughed, and you could vaguely tell that he was leaning further against the desk he was sitting behind. "Though you're right on one thing; we're not letting you out of here."

You gulped, not really liking the tone that he used to say that last statement, digging your nails into your elbow as a billion shivers ran up and down your spine. You weren't liking this ONE SINGLE BIT.

//----------------------------------\

"You'll be staying here for the time being." Itachi said in his normal dakr and monotone voice, opening the door to your new temporary room. "If you try to run away… We'll all know." He stated simply, before walking off.

"…Way to warn me." You shrugged, stepping through the doorway and closing the door behind you. No doupt about it, the room sure WAS a helluva lot bigger than what you were accustomed to. It wasn't round, though it still looked ominous to you. It was lit the same way the round room was, with the same kind of bed, though THIS one had the Akatsuki cloud on it.

…Damn those clouds.

You'd drawn FOURTEEN on a drawing once. You've hated those clouds ever SINCE.

You walked up to the bed, pressing down on it lightly; you smirked. It was just as fluffy as the one in the round room, if not MORE. Then, noticing the dresser in the corner of the room, you skipped to it, cracking the doors open.

The obvious things you never expected.

The dresser was FILLED with clothes; all looked like they were made for you. The cloaks, the shirts… And, with a blush, you even noted the underwear; bra and panties alike. Though, to your delight, they were black. You loved black, no matter how you wore it.

"Like what you see, un?"

And then you screamed your lungs out. You'd been dying to do that for a while.

"Geez, woman, shut up, un!" Deidara cried, covering his ears. You instantly shut up when you saw him cover his ears; didn't he have like, MOUTHS in his hands? Can he really control them like he says he can…?

"Well, j-just don't barge in like that! I could've been naked, you know!" You cried in defense, shutting the dresser doors.

"And you wouldn't still be there, un." Deidara countered with a smirk, removing his hands from his ears and crossing his arms. "Anyways, just wanted to introduce myself, un. My name's Deidara, un." He said, extending a hand.

"…Yuuko." I said, eying the hand curiously. I thought about saying something about the mouths in his hands, though you thought that over. That, too, would be a dead giveaway of your being from an other world. So, much to your horror, you forced yourself to shake Deidara's hand.

And then yelped. Having something lick the inside of your palm is NOT fun.

"Sorry. Acts on its own, un." Deidara smirked again, raising his palm to show the hand… Actually licking its lips. It really WAS disturbing to watch.

"J-just keep your hands to hyourself next time."

"I guarantee nothing, un."

Poof, he was gone.

"…Perv."

* * *

I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry this chapter took so long!!   
I've been really busy with art requests and a whoe lotta personnal problems to focus on SaTJ. P But I'm back and stronger than ever now! D So you'll be having daily chapters a little more from now on. XD

Anjoy the chapter!!


	11. Atashi wa kore suki dayou

So it's been three days since you were womannapped, right? And all you'd done so far was walk around your room and swear at Deidara(or Itachi, who passed through once every six or twelve hours) when he popped up unannounced, like usual. You didn't really get out of your room much, since, apparently, you were to be kept secluded from the other members of the Akatsuki. And for your OWN safety. That bit you had appreciated a little less, though you thought it kind of the Leader to want you SAFE and not DEAD, as opposed to what you originally thought.

Oh, you were still wondering when you were due. You were sure they were going to barge into your room one good day, force every ounce of information from your body, and then kill you, and THEN let Zetsu take care of your mutilated, lifeless body. You even had a nightmare about that the night before. Not fun. You woke up in the middle of the night sweating like you'd just ran the marathon. That wasn't a shitload of fun either...

Looking in one of the two mirror that garnished your room, you sighed and ran a hand through your hair; greasy and not nice to look at. You were wondering wether or not there were showers around there... because you would sure as hell LOVE to hop in one and just wash the inch of filth off your body! After all, the last time you had taken a shower...

Well crap, you couldn't even remember!

"Oi, Onna." You heard Deidara call behind you. For once, you didn't jump up four thousand meters high; you'd seen him appear behind you in the mirror.

"What is it?" You asked in a whisper, lowering your head and staring down at your feet.

"Leader-sama said you might wanna shower, un." He stated simply, walking towards your door and kicking it open. "I suppose he was right, un?" He asked, when he saw that you weren't moving.

"Uh, y-yeah, gomen." You muttered weakly, snatching a towel, a shirt and a pair of loose black shorts from the dresser and racing up behind the blonde Akatsuki member after closing the door.

//----------------------------------\

"This is HEAVEN!" you sang happily after having carefully examined the Akatsuki's 'bathroom'. Gawd, you could've SWORN that the stupid room was a palace of its own, once upon a time! The place was just THAT HUGE. The bath could fit, you assumed, at least six sumo wrestlers, and the shower...

GAWD.

The thing was just GODLY marvellous.

The floor to the shower was in black and white tiles, and the sheer space in the glass-surrounded area was just... WOW. At least ten of you could fit in there! And everything was just SPOTLESS. You were starting to wonder wether that only woman in the Akatsuki was used for this; cleaning up after the other men she worked with. That, or maybe Tobi was always tricked into cleaning up.

...Tobi, ha. Yeah right. You knew who he really was...

Well anyways.

Instead of taking a shower(like you had planned on), you DOVE into the bath, which was filled with steaming water. You ADORED it. It felt so revitalizing to dive into warm water, and it felt so RIGHT... Though, you just couldn't keep worrying that someone might just barge in and see you in your very vulnerably naked form.

Oh well. Water felt too good to worry too much about that.

//----------------------------------\

"Oi, Onna!"

You jumped, water splashing around you. Well crap, you forgot that you were actually supposed to get out of there someday. And sadly, Deidara was the one to snap you out of your oh-so marvellous reverie. And you were just starting to imagine Kakashi...

Well what? You were addicted to the guy, it's no surprise to anyone.

"W-what?" You called back shyly, quickly getting out of the water. Damn, if he barged in on you now, you'd... Well, uh, you didn't know what you'd do, seeing he was a helluva lot stronger than you, but still, you'd find something..! Maybe you'd bust a few Kendo moves...

"You've got five minutes to get out of there before Kisame gets in, un!" Deidara replied, and you could vaguely heard the footsteps walk away in the distance.

"...FUCK!" you cried, speed-drying your hair(doing your best to make it look as tame as possible), and getting dressed as fast as humanly possible.

And just in time, too; just as you reached the double doors, they opened, apparently, on their own, a very angry-looking shark man walking in. He ignored you(much to your relief), and you ran out just before the doors closed behind you.

"Talk about being in a foul mood." You muttered, turning to go to your room, running into Itachi. "Ah, g-gomen nasai..!" You squeaked, wincing as you expected something to happened.

"...Follow me." Was the simple reply you got, as the elder Uchiha started to walk away from you. Well, that sure wasn't what you expected. Then again... Coming from Itachi, what else COULD you have expected?

You lightly trotted along the halls, noting that you had passed your room; you were going to go see the leader again? That's when you broke out in a cold sweat. Well crap, this was the moment you had waited for silently in your nightmares. And honestly, that moment could've waited forever for as much as you cared. Dying wasn't really in your near future projects...

Well, seems like that was going to change.

You gulped loudly when you reached the double ebony doors, pushing them open, not even caring wether or not Itachi was already walking away or not. Closing the doors behind you, you immediately proceeded to sitting down in one of the chair in front of the desk, still cloaked in darkness.

"Have you enjoyed yourself, Yuuko-san?" the Leader asked, and you winced a little at the suffix. You hated being called Yuuko-SAN. Chan, you didn't mind, but hell, you weren't any LADY. Though, you nodded, half expecting him to add something like 'well, I hope you did, because it's the last time you'll be enjoying anything'. But that never came.

The woman standing behind the Leader, omnipresent in any discussion, bent over to whisper to his ear. You couldn't see nor hear her any more than you could the Leader, though you had a feeling that what she was saying wasn't good news. You could vaguely see him frowning, even in the darkness.

"Yes, well, I've heard news that a team of elite ANBU from Konoha were sent after you. You wouldn't know why they'd be so attached to you, would you?" he asked in a colder voice, making a few shivers run up and down your spine.

"Not at all. I'm just a woman living in that village, sir... Why Tsunade Godaime-sama would want me back so badly is really beyond me." You lied, still keeping your gaze firmly planted in the Leaders' eyes.

"Don't lie to me." He growled, making you sink into your chair a little more. "You know more than you let on, little girl, and I-"

"I'M TWENTY TWO FOR GOD'S SAKE!" you burst, quickly clamping your hands over your mouth. For a twenty two year old, that sure wasn't very mature of you.

But SERIOUSLY! He goes and calls you Yuuko-SAN, which is clearly a mark of respect seeing you as either older or of equal status, and THEN he calls you LITTLE GIRL. Gawd, can't he just make up his effing mind?! If ANYTHING, indecisiveness ticked you off more than EVERYTHING in the world.

"Don't test my patience, Onna." The Leader hissed, leaning over the desk a little more. You could've sworn that, a few inches more, and you could've seen his face. Not that you thought you would've WANTED to see it all that much, now...

"G-gomen nasai..!" you yelped, sinking in your chair even more. Damn this guy was intimidating.

You could see his lips part as he was about to say something else(probably whisper, or yell), but that's when you heard some kind of a rumbling noise. You blinked a little as the Leader looked over your shoulder, to the door, obviously shrugging the thing off.

"Seems your friends have decided to pay us a little visit. Nothing, I'm sure, than the others won't be able to deal with." He said in a smug tone, and you could clearly see him smirk. Your heart sank; you KNEW that Kakashi had nearly died once because of Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan... But now an entire TEAM might be killed, just because o you!

Because you were stupid enough to let yourself get caught...

"DON'T!" you cried, throwing yourself at the desk. "Please... Don't hurt them. I'll... Tell you anything you want, just don't hurt them." You pleaded, clenching the edge of the desk to tightly, your knuckles were white; the rumbling and pounding behind you ceased.

You just couldn't help it; the thought of someone dying because of you was just too much to bear; having a death over your head wasn't something that seemed alluring to you. But most of all, the thought of Kakashi dying because of you... It just wasn't something you were willing to cope with.

"Aren't you the brave one." The Leader chuckled, leaning back into his own chair. "Well then, let's start with..." he paused, narrowing his eyes at the door.

...The noise had stopped. That was a good sign for him, right? So why the hell would he- the doors flew open. Kisame stumbled into the room, leaning on his sword for support. Though, it was in vain, seeing as he had apparently been violently shoved forward. By someone you knew all too well.

"You'll be coming with me now, miss." The ANBU woman said, her long black hair tied in the back of her head with what was usually a long and large red scarf. That pale hand, the black hair, the chilling voice, the Coyote ANBU mask...

Oh yes.

You knew that woman very well indeed.

"I'd think not." The woman spoke up for once, her voice almost rivalling the anbu's gut-wrenching severity. You stared at the two, one exposed to the lighting of the room, the other in the darkness. Though much to your disappointment and exasperation, someone gave you a rough hit behind the neck, making you black out instantly. WHEN the HELL would people stop DOING that?!

//----------------------------------\

Your head bobbed back and forth slowly, you could feel yourself getting lighter, lighter... then heavy, and heavier. Light... Heavy... You smiled childishly at the feeling. It was like swinging really really high, then coming back down. Or when you were at La Ronde, and you went in the SuperMan ride. You went really really high... And then dropped down suddenly. Then back up... You muttered something you weren't quite sure of yourself, clinging to the warm pillow that was holding you.

...Wait, pillows don't hold people.

That's when your brain made an instant connection; you'd been rescued..! And by Fye Kurokawa, one of you OWN characters, no less! Good thing you'd come up with her. You had given her a particular trait; the Blood's Trace. It allowed the Kurokawa clan member to track down any other bloodline trait in use. Such as the Sharingan, which Itachi used ALL the time. So it was no wonder she found you so fast...

In fact, that she found the Akatsuki, PERIOD.

"She's awake." You heard a familiar voice state, and the nice floaty sensation immediately stopped. You really felt like surrendering everything you'd eaten in the past few days, though you took a few deep breaths to hold everything back.

"Oi, Yuuko-chan..." You heard Kakashi mutter, though the voice was coming somewhere near your feet. If HE was there...

Then who was holding you?

You cracked open your eyes, and instantly smiled and threw your arms around the man holding you. Of course you knew him, too! How couldn't you? He WAS Ame, Fye's brother. Though he didn't know you, you sure as hell where happy to see HE was holding you!

"Thank you so much..." you sobbed, letting tears stream down your face and unto Ame's shoulder. Those tears were not only because you were grateful, but because of the stress and pure fright you had gone through the past few days. You snapped back to reality when you felt two hands rub your back, and you choked back a sob.

"I... I'm sorry..." You muttered, wiping your already red and puffy eyes.

"Come on." Fye ordered, a few meters ahead. "We don't have a lot of distance between us, the longer we stay put the more chances they've got catching up to us."

And the swing started swinging again, and that same odd grin returned to your face. Somewhere ahead, you could hear Kakashi and Okawa talking with each other, as well as Genma chattering with Ame. Tsunade really HAD sent the best... Though you felt honoured, there was also a hollow pang of guilt in your stomach. They could've gotten KILLED because of you..!

"Just sleep, Yuuko-chan..." Ame spoke quietly, lightly wiping a tear from your cheek. You snuggled closer to his chest, falling back into a self-proclaimed well-earned slumber.

//----------------------------------\

You sighed happily; your pillow smelled good. It was a smell you recognised. It was the same smell you had gotten used to after having slept in Kakashi's room for a while. Your eyes shot open; you were back in Kakashi's apartment! Your heart skipped a beat as you threw the sheets off of your half naked body. Well crap. You were only in your underwear.

You instinctively headed towards the closet, snatching the first thing you laid hands on; one of Kakashi's shirts. Like hell you cared; so long as you weren't walking around nearly naked.

"K-Kakashi..?" You called out, pushing the room's door open, walking into the hall and into the kitchen. To your relief, there he was, sitting at the dining room table, quietly sipping a cup of coffee. A sip that, apparently, wasn't going to stay in his mouth too long; this was the THIRD TIME you'd seen him without his mask. Which was nowhere near him. Weird.

"Y-you're awake..?!" He choked, rushing to the kitchen counter to wipe his mouth with a towel hanging from the stove's handle.

"...Why wouldn't I be?" You asked, poorly stifling a yawn. Then you thought about it a bit. Were you supposed to be out longer than what you had been..? How long HAD you been sleeping? "Speaking of which, how long have I been sleeping?" You asked in the same lazy tone, slumping down on the vacant chair in front of Kakashi's.

"...Two days."

The sip of coffee you'd stolen from Kakashi's mug was equally spat on the table. Well, that wasn't quite what you expected, to say the least.

"WHAT? No way! I couldn't have been sleeping for two DAYS!" You countered, wiping the corners of your mouth as Kakashi walked towards the poor soaked table to clean it off.

"Tsunade said the stress might've taken a toll on you. You should've been asleep for an other day." He replied, biting his bottom lip. Why the heck was he doing that..?

"And that's why you were walking around without your mask again?" You asked with a smirk, raising a brow at the older jounin. You received no reply; not that you were expecting one. And besides, you just liked looking and Kakashi cleaning the table. He was wearing a t-shirt, giving you a nice little view of those muscular arms.

An angelic face and a body to DIE for. Yep, you sure had fallen on the BEST roommate could ever ask for! Not that you would imagine your 'relationship' going any further...

Well, maybe you had in the bath. But you were stressed and desperate to find something to get away from reality. Your mind just strayed to the sexiest thing you knew to keep itself occupied.

"Uh, Kakashi... What're you doing..?" You asked in a hesitant voice, slowly backing into your chair as said silver headed jounin inched closer to you. Not that you didn't ENJOY it, but it just felt weird, to say the least.

And, of course, you had to go and ruin the moment by falling off of your chair. Aside from yelping, your first reflex you had was to ram your hand to the floor between your legs, pressing the shirt down with it. You SURE as hell weren't letting a man, KAKSHI no less, seeing your UNDERWEAR.

Hell no.

"Gomen." You chuckled nervously, referring to the ear-bleeding-inducing scream you'd let out. "Just caught me by surprise."

"No problem." Kakashi muttered, turning away and returning to the sink. Er, awkward much? Two times now, he'd acted weird around you. You were STARTING to piece things together... But that puzzle was WAAAAAAAAAY too nice to be true. So you put it in the garbage. Again.

Shrugging the matter off, you jumped back up onto your feet and put the chair back up on its legs. You headed towards the fridge to take out a bottle of water; god only knew how thirsty you were. You unscrewed the cap and took a long draught, before sighing contentedly, turning around and kicking the fridge door closed with your heel. But before you could make the slightest move whatsoever, you had been pinned to the cool white surface of the fridge door.

You vaguely took notice that your bottle of water fell to the floor at your right, though your mind was far too preoccupied by Kakashi's body, pressed against yours, to care about the measly little water bottle on the floor

"Kakashi... What are you..." You started, but bit on your lower lip and shut up when he growled at you. You frowned, intending on replying, but the minute you parted your lips again, his own crashed down on yours. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you wondered if that was going to leave a bruise in the morning...

You felt his tongue trace your bottom lip; it didn't take a big flashy orange sign to tell you what he wanted. You parted your lips the slightest bit more, and it didn't take a second before Kakashi's tongue delved into your mouth, inching your tongue into dancing with his own. Somewhere in the back of your throat, you felt yourself growl, sound which was more than eagerly swallowed by the jounin... Somewhat on top of you. Your mouths parted after a while, lack of air taking a toll on both of you, a slim filament of saliva linking both your mouths.

"The hell was that for...?" You breathed, letting your head rest against Kakashi's chest.

"...I'm going on a mission tonight..." He whispered to your ear, kissing your exposed neck once or twice. OOOOH. So THAT was it. He thought he was going to die. Oh joy.

"I swear to god, if you get killed, I..." You shuddered, the hands once hanging loosely at your sides gripping the hem on Kakashi's shirt tightly.

"I'm not going to die for something like this." Kakashi chuckled, his silver hair brushing against your cheek, still smelling just as good as you remembered it. "I'm just delivering a message."

"...So?" You replied in an offended tone, as he raised his head so his eyes met yours, your foreheads touching. "Who cares? Some freakin' idiot might wanna kill you because you're-"

If he wanted you to shut up, well his tongue sure as hell made it clear.

* * *

**Yozers, readers!! D  
Like I promised, here's your daily chapter!!! Hope you liked it. :P I sure as heck did. XD  
So yeah. Might be a little weird and rushy, and maybe a teeny bit Mary-Sue(OMG! I admit it. ), but hey. I felt like getting to the part where you understand why this fic is rated M. XD  
So yeah, you should get some citrus action in the next chapter. xD  
UNLESS, of course, you'd rather I keep it for later. Lemme know what you'd like, m'kays? **


	12. Kore wa SEKUSU dattebayo!

**Yozers!! Chapter number twelve. Yarr, aren't you guys happy? XD Well yeppers. An other daily chapter for you. And you must be wondering why the AN is at the BEGINNING, for once.**

**Well yeah. This is like a WARNING, y'know…**

**So yar, time to be older for a minute.**

**The following chapter contains content not suitable for a younger audience, or an audience bellow the age of 18. If you hadn't easily offended by explicit sexual descriptions, please do not pursue the reading of this chapter. If you hadn't above the age of 18, or mentally capable or reading such content, please do not take heed of this warning.**

**Please and thank you!!**

**Ha. Didn't think the ol' Fye could pull off something that sounds smart eh?**

**Haha world, HAHA. XD**

**Anyways. Just so you guys know, this fic isn't meant for Sakura haters. I love Strawberry-head like a daughter, so yeah. It's pretty much reflected in this chapter. xD**

**READ ON!!**

* * *

You had been tossing and turning for about five hours now, which made it about four in the morning. Since, after all, you HAD woken up at eleven… Or something like that. And ever since Kakashi had more than forcible kissed you, you just couldn't stop blushing like a freakin' schoolgirl greeted by the hottest guy in the whole freakin' school. And you were HATING yourself for it. After all, Kakashi was GONE on a MISSION for TWO DAYS. Which, you had to admit, twisted your heart like some big chunk of Playdoh.

Stupid playdoh heart.

After a while, you shrugged and decided that sleep just wasn't your thing at the moment. It's like it was avoiding you like the freakin' pest. But like hell you cared, you'd just make yourself a cup of coffee and start drawing until your hands explode.

That's what you used to do; get up, go to your desk, and draw until you couldn't draw no more! Until your mom started barging in your room at two in the morning to tell you to go to bed.

You hated that.

You walked up to the counter, stumbling to the little coffee machine and then hoped on the counter beside said machine to wait until it was ready. You let your eyes shut for a few seconds, snapping them open again. You couldn't fall asleep NOW! You had gotten up because you COULDN'T sleep in the first place! Stupid fucked up brain. You hopped back to the floor, skipping a bit to regain your balance after nearly falling face first into the floor.

And then you screamed like bloody hell when someone rang the doorbell that you thought didn't even work to begin with.

"Who the fuck rings at the bloody door at this hour..?!" you cursed, slowly stumbling to the door and unlocking it, and instantly being tackleglomped. Uh, riiiiight. Last time that happened was when your best friend broke up with her boyfriend and had gotten into a fight with her parents. She ran away to YOUR place and nearly killed you with a tackleglomp…

"S-Sakura..?" you choked, finding yourself squeezed between the wall facing the door and a very.. Er, upset-looking Sakura. Whatever had happened must've been, er, harsh.

"I'm s-sorry, I just…" Sakura sobbed, though you just whispered a faint 'hush', gently stroking the back of her head. You didn't really give a damn about her apologies for barging in your apartment at four in the morning. Heck, she could barge in anytime she wanted for all you cared. So long as she had a valid reason to DO so. Because otherwise, if she woke you up, SOMEONE was dying.

"Come on… I just made some coffee, we'll talk about it around a nice cup, okay?" you offered with a smile, the pink headed girl giving you a stiff nod before you led her to the dining room, pouring two cups of coffee(old habit had it that you always made five cups for your parents and yourself). When you sat back at the table, where Kakashi would usually sit, you snapped your head up when you heard Sakura slam her head on the table.

…5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

"I'm an IDIOT!!" she sobbed, not at all catching you by surprised. You had already started making sense of the entire situation. Naruto probably decided to go out with Hinata or something, and Sakura was left alone, broken hearted and no one else to run to but you. Because, after all, you WERE older and you HAD gone through considerably more than most women in Konoha.

It's not everyday you get torn from your world... Speaking of which, you started to feel tear sting at the corners of your eyes, and you tilted your head back and blinked furiously for a few seconds. Dammit...

"No you're not... Listen, if you'd just explain the situation, maybe I could help..." You offered, letting you hand rest comfortingly on Sakura's. She sniffled a few times before raising her head and staring at you with freakishly blank seagreen eyes.

"...Really..?" she asked in a hoarse whisper, still choking back a few sobs.

"Well, if anything, I'm pretty sure you'll feel better after talking about it, even if I can't really do anything about the situation..." you replied, sipping at your cup of coffee. You had the distinct feeling you'd be needing it pretty soon.

//----------------------------------\

It was 5:12 when Sakura had finished explaining the entire situation. And honestly, you couldn't have been more baffled and taken back by the entire thing! It wasn't at ALL what you were expecting. And that wasn't even STARTING to describe how WEIRD everything had been during the hour Sakura had been recounting events.

It had all started that night when you and Kakashi had spotted Sakura and Naruto making out in the alley. Apparently, it had been some one night thing, because both weren't really all that sober. The next morning, when Sakura brought it up to Naruto, he didn't remember a thing. And to make things worse, he said that he'd never dare kiss her(he'd be way too scared of her punching him to death if he ever so much as tried). Though, after she had explained what she remembered, Naruto seemed to lighten up a bit. That's when they kissed again, though it felt a little more awkward than what she had remembered.

THEN, it got weirder.

One morning(the first day you were gone), Sakura had decided to go wake up Naruto a little early in the morning, thinking she might as well drag Naruto out of bed to go see Tsunade and ask how they could help with your situation, or at least go pay a visit to Hitaru(at that part, you mentally slapped yourself; you STILL hadn't gone to see her yet! After a week!!). Though, when she knocked on his door, he never opened up. Even when she forced it open, he wasn't even there! Sure, she thought it was weird... But she figured he'd already headed to the hospital or something. Though when she got there, Naruto hadn't so much as passed near, from what the nurses said. So Sakura headed off to the training grounds, Ichiraku, and every other place she could think of, where Naruto would be. But she DIDN'T find him. After being completely bummed and tired, she decided to go out in the fields near Konoha's border(Kotetsu always managed to sneak her out).

THAT'S when it got even WEIRDER.

After walking around for about five minutes, Sakura started to HEAR things. Things she'd rather have never heard coming from someone else in her LIFE. She tried her best to try to cloak her chakra, and to remain as silent as humanly possible.

THEN she saw THEM.

Sasuke and Naruto, one on top of the other, both VERY naked an VERY into what they were doing. It didn't take more than a second for Sakura to get out of there. Not like she thought that either one would care as much as to un after her; they'd probably just think is was a rabbit or something.

And THEN, when she got back to her place, there was a note from Lee stuck to her door. She thought it might be nice to see the guy for once; he had written that he'd be waiting at the waterfall at six. So she went. And then nearly got raped, if the REAL Lee hadn't miraculously jumped in just in time. He apologized for being late, and for leaving that note bluntly obvious; the guy probably saw it while passing by and thought itd be a nice lay.

THEN they went out for dinner, then Sakura went home and all that, and the next day, POOF! There Naruto was, all happy an willing to go see Hitaru.

So the went to go see her(again, you mentally slapped yourself for ignoring the kunoichi), and after Naruto left, she had held Sakura back and said that if she knew ANYTHING about ANYTHING concerning Sasuke, she should go see Tsunade. That CREEPED HER OUT. It's like Hitaru knew something... Everything, in fact.

And that's where she had stopped before breaking into an other sobbing fit. Gawd, you really thought about telling her that it was all just a dream, that she couldn't have seen it while you were womannapped because you had never BEEN womannapped... But that would've been cruel and stupid. Not to mention unbelievable. Literally.

After having talked about a few options and courses of action, you bid Sakura a good day(seeing as it was 6:27 at that time) and headed straight to bed. Kakashi'd told you, just before leaving, that Hirishima had given you a week's vacation to relax after everything that happened. Which left you with five more days. Bugger. Though you were happy you'd be able to sleep all day. You really needed it.

//----------------------------------\

Three obnoxiously loud beeps.

"...Fucking retard watch..." you groaned, throwing the stupid thing on the wall, falling back to sleep again.

//----------------------------------\

Two days later. 11:36PM. You were pacing around the kitchen, oh-so anxiously waiting for Kakashi to just casually walk through the door and just plain have his way with you then and there(yes, meaning on the kitchen floor). Though, of course, you chuckled nervously, telling yourself that something like that would ever happen. Besides, you figured that the other night was just a one-night thing. It took some monologue to get that thought in your head- NOTHING was going to happen. After you had impressed that thought upon yourself, you sighed heavily, glaring at the watch you threw in the hall that morning(two days in a row, you'd thrown the poor thing), its hands indicating it was nearly midnight.

You opened your room's door with an other sigh, letting yourself fall onto your nice, fluffy bed. But, for some reason, you just didn't like it. Both because it reminded you too much of the bed you had been sleeping in at the Akatsuki, but also because it didn't have YOUR smell. Not like your bed back home. After five minutes of not knowing what to do, you finally decided that you'd probably have more chances of sleeping in Kakashi's bed than in your own. Stumbling up to your feet, you stretched and yawned, and stumbled into Kakashi's smell, giggling like a little girl when you sniffed his pillow. Damn the thing smelled good..! After burying yourself under the blankets and clinging to the pillow like your life depended on it, you closed your eyes and sighed one last time.

//----------------------------------\

Tap... Tap... Tap...

Your eyes shot open, though you winced as the air hit your sleepy eyes. You turned around to look at the alarm clock; 2AM. You'd only been sleeping for about two hours and a half... You mentally shrugged, making sure you made no noise, snatched a kunai you knew Kakashi kept under his mattress, and crept towards the door, which was ajar. You cast a glance at the floor, your blood running cold as you saw a shadow in the light.

Crap.

You heard it stop in front of the door; you could even hear the person breathing. Though... It was an odd sound. Like if that person was wearing something in front of their face...

The person nudged the door; you gulped, pulled the door open, pulled on whoever's shirt to throw them to the ground, though that person seem to have an other idea... Because you were thrown onto the bed instead, dragging whoever on top of you, since your death grip on their shirt hadn't loosened up the slightest bit. It's only when you saw a head of silver hair that you heaved one of the BIGGEST sighs in your life.

"Don't SCARE me like that..!" you muttered, playfully hitting Kakashi's shoulder.

"Then you should stay in your room." He replied smugly behind his mask ,which you desperately wanted off. "What are you doing in my room, anyways...?" He asked after having taken the time to sit on the edge of his bed.

"...Mine smells funny because it's new. I couldn't sleep. I thought I'd be able to get some shut-eye in yours instead." You replied with your blunt honesty, looking at those mismatched eyes of his. Well, he didn't seem to care wether or not you saw his eye/face... Not that he should. After all, you saw his face THRICE.

"...Fine, I got it, I'm'oing to bed." You shrugged, jumping to your feet and heading towards the door.

Through, after a few steps, Kakashi had grabbed your wrist, pulling you down. Into his lap. Which made your face turn from pale you radioactive red. You tried to Glare up at Kakashi when you heard him chuckle, but you honestly couldn't do anything but be flustered at the awkward position you were in.

"L-look, about the other night..." You started, clearing your throat. Though Kakashi cut you off before you could say anything else(which was an other reason for you to glare at him even though you couldn't).

"Sorry I couldn't do anything. Didn't have the time." He smirked(wooooah, he took his mask off without you even noticing..!, making you turn an even deeper shade of red.

Before you could reply anything else, though, Kakashi's lips crashed down on your own. He didn't even need to 'ask'; you parted your mouth instantly, replying instantly to his tongues invitations to dance. You swallowed one of his groans, proud that, for once, you seem to have some advantage over whoever it was you were with. After a while, you both parted, though only for you to be thrown back onto the bed.

The minute your head hit the pillow, Kakashi's lips covered your again, though softer this time. You couldn't help but shiver, and lightly smirk when you noticed he had shivered as well. Your hand, until then clasped behind Kakashi's head, moved up under his shirt. The feeling of his muscles under your hand; you loved it. His skin was just so warm... You grinned into the kiss when you felt him shiver again. You though it might be because your hands were ice-cold, as always.

You mewled lightly as Kakashi's lips moved from your lips to your neck, not being able to keep yourself from arching your back. If there was ONE thing that made you tick, it was having someone kiss your neck. Instant reaction.

Kakashi groaned as your body arched into his; that was when you realised just where all of this was going at. Not only because of the moment, but because you could very well feel Kakashi's 'excitement' on the inside of your thigh. That, honestly, only made you smirk even more.

After a few seconds, you shrugged and threw off Kakashi's vest somewhere to your left, before pulling his shirt over his head. You almost gasped; that guy just had the body any woman or MAN, for that matter, could ever dream of..! You squeaked, the thought of having THAT on top of you, in the same bed, just WAAAAAAY too nice.

Kakashi growled an other time; you were guessing he thought you were still a little door dressed. You had to admit, being in a pair of black short and TWO shirts(a fishnet one and a shirt that revealed your shoulders) might not be the best attire... So you didn't mind it at all when his hands slid under your shirts. After all, his hands were just as warm as the rest of his body warm... So it felt good against your skin, which was just as cold as your hands.

Meanwhile, you had slid your hands down Kakashi's stomach, reaching the waistband of his pants. You smirked again, letting your hands flutter over his erect member, earning a groaned from the man above you. Though, afterwards, he let his body fall onto your own, momentarily winding you, before catching your lips in his own again.

"You know..." You started, between kisses. "...when I was reading those books of yours..." an other kiss. "I was thinking about you." You ended with a smirk, groaning none-too quietly as he grounded his hips into yours. At that moment, he pulled both shirts over your head, leaving your C-cup breasts poking proudly in the air. One of Kakashi's hands just lightly fluttered over them, as if he wasn't too sure what he should do, though you were more than happy to see that he had pressed his chest against your own(self esteem problems make you a little self-conscious, yeah).

Your fingers hooked under Kakashi's pants, pulling them down. He kicked them somewhere near his vest and shirt, and, you noticed, Kakashi was doing the same with your shorts, which you kicked somewhere with your shirts.

A vague idea crossed your mind; two in the morning and you were going to get laid by one of the hottest men in Konoha. Yeah, you'd be tired in the morning. Not like you cared.

You giggled lightly as you started to trail kissing along Kakashi's jaw line, up to his earlobe. He stiffened, giving you a clear sign that it was one of his weak spots. You smirk again, nibbling on the lobe, earning an other growl from the jounin.

Within a few seconds, your panties were tossed aside with the rest of your clothes, whereas his boxers followed soon after. You groaned lightly, arching into Kakashi again, clearly telling him you wanted him inside you. Giving you one last kiss on your lips, he more than obliged by thrusting deep inside you. You let out a long moan, throwing your head back and clawing at his back.

"Faster." You growled into his ear, grinding your hips upward to meet every one of his thrusts.

You weren't a virgin; oh HELLZ no. I mean, you were twenty two, for Pete's sake! You'd had sex more than once. With the jackass you'd dumped a few months ago. So of course, this didn't hurt in the least. Though, you had to admit, Kakashi had you going crazy. Afterwards, you guessed that his being a shinobi had a great deal to do with it. Speed and all...

After a while, you noticed Kakashi's thrusts began to grow faster, as well as your own climax was approaching dangerously fast. Only half a dozen thrusts later, you let out a rather obnoxiously loud moan, biting down on Kakashi's shoulder to silence yourself, earning a growl from the man above you. Seconds later, you felt him come within you, as he let himself collapse over you. After a while, but mostly after having caught his breath, Kakashi rolled over to your right, suddenly giving the impression that the bed was way too small.

"...Why me..?" You whispered after a while, staring at the ceiling, tightly holding Kakashi's hand in your own. "I mean... Well, why ME?" you asked again, not really sure how you put that question in better words.

"Because you're not like the others." Came Kakashi's simple reply, both his eyes closed. You chuckled lightly; not like the others? NOOOOOOOO, ya don't say! Not a lotta women you knew came from an other WORLD!

...Speaking of which...

"We have to go see Hitaru tomorrow." You said suddenly, turning on your side to snuggle closer to Kakashi, the hand's arm you were once holding now around your shoulders.

"Random...?"

"Nuh-uh..! I promised I'd go see her, but I sorta got womannapped..." You whined, poking his side.

"WOMANnapped?" he chuckled; it sounded like music your ears. It just sounded so beautiful...

"Well what? I sure as hell ain't a puny little kid anymore!" you replied in an offended tone, poking Kakashi a little more roughly.

"...I know."

"...Perv."

"Takes one to know one."

You giggle for a few seconds, after which you sighed and snuggled up to Kakashi a little more, happy he was back... Though mostly happy you were his, but like, whatever. You fell asleep after that. (xD)

//----------------------------------\

_'...I wanna go hooooooooooome, I've had my fun...'_

"...Bublé, shut your sexy ass..." you muttered, punching your alarm clock, knowing you hit the 'off' button when the song stopped playing.

...Song...

Alarm clock...

"WHAT THE FUCKING SHIT?!" You cried, conveniently falling in the vacant space between the wall and your bed. Which was at home. You know, HOOOOOOM home. You stared up at the wall; yep, there it was! The drawing you had made in permanent marker on your wall ages ago, and, a little high up, one of the few shelves where you put all the knick-knacks you wanted to keep around.

You cursed your nightstand a few times for having sharp, non-rounded edges, before groaning and climbing back in bed. Which was NOT as vacant as you thought it would be.

"...Yuuko..?" Kakashi groaned, rubbing his head. "...Where are we?" He asked after a while, blinking a few hundred times as he stared around at your room.

Three shelves, computer desk, radio, lava lamp, a LOT of clothes on the floor, drawings all over the place, CDs covering the desk like a blanket, representations of angels all over the place, not to mention two posters of Naruto on your bedroom door and on your closet door, as well as a scratched-over konoha forehead protector pinned on the shelf on the wall the drawing was on.

Yeah, Kakashi was going to be freaked.

"We're, uh, ho-"

The door being slammed opened interrupted you.

"YUUKO?!" your mom cried, tears welling up in her eyes.

"...mom..." you whispered, tears welling up in your eyes as well. "Oh, uh, Mom, this is, uh... Oh crap..!" You groaned, pulling the sheets up to cover your chest, gulping loudly.

Just how were you going to explain your being in Konoha and coming back naked with a fictional shinobi in your bed?


	13. Eto, kare wa Hatake Kakashi desu? Ne?

**Hey there, adoring fans!!  
Sorry there wasn't a chapter yesterdayl I was caught up in a big socio-political artistic argument on Sheezy Art with a bunch of people claiming some stuff... And anways. You get the point. xP**

**GOMEN NASAI!! TT**

* * *

**Eto, kare ha Hatake Kakashi desu ka? Ne?  
**_Um, you're Hatake Kakashi, right?_

So there you were, in your bed, butt-naked, with a fictionnal character beside you(giving you the feeling that your bed really WAS way too small for you). With your mother gaping like a fish out of water, just repetitively blinking at you as though you had a volcano on your forehead. Somewhere at the back of your mind, you thought Hitaru would kill you when you got back.

IF you'd ever get back to Konoha, that is.

"Er, I can ex-" you started, but you were cut off by your mother running over to you and just GLOMPING you like if she hadn't seen you in years. Which, technically, had been the case. You might not have been gone for YEARS… But a few months isn't nothing, especially when you disappear overnight, with no sign of a struggle or anything..!

"I'm so happy you're back..!" She sobbed, and you couldn't help but sigh, a few tears streaming down your cheek as well. You would've wrapped your arms around her as well… If it weren't for some other jounin in bed with you.

"…WHO THE HELL IS HE?!" she screams after you gently pushed her back, and the strength of her voice is enough, you think with a mental smirk, to make your ears bleed.

…Did I mention your mother is japanese/english? So her voice is particularly high. And dangerously loud.

"…Uh… Mom, uh, could we have a second, er, please..?" You asked, rubbing the back of your neck. You still hadn't let go of her hand. You let it slip away as she got up and headed for the door.

"I'm still killing him." She said, and you thought she hadn't really meant to voice that thought, though you still chuckled nervously.

"Yuuko, what the hell-" Kakashi, started, but you slammed your hand to his mouth, putting a finger over your lips.

"I'll get dressed, slip out the window, go into my parents room, snatch some of my dad's clothes and I'll be right back." You explained, hopping you your feet(dragging one of the two sheets with you(hey, you're self-conscious, remember?)) and rummaging through the drawers, not caring wether or not your room was going to look even MORE atrocious than it already did.

After slipping into your favourite pair of jeans, a sports bra and that overly-large sweater you were wearing the night you 'disappeared', you opened the window, making sure you didn't make too much noise, and climbed into the lilac, like you were accustomed to doing. For some reason, it seemed so much easier now..! Maybe because of the training with Hitaru(again, you thought about how angry she'd be when she'd learn you vanished, with Kakashi, no less) had given you… Nonetheless, you climbed onto the roof, gently padded to the other side, slipping into your parents'(mostly your mother's, since your dad sleeps in the basement because his snoring is obnoxiously loud) room. You instantly headed for the dresser which contained the entirety of your father's wardrobe, plucking out a pair of boxers(duhhhhr), jeans, and that black SuperMan shirt you always used to steal from him.

After cackling at the though of Kakashi wearing a size 40, you cracked the door open and slid back to your room, throwing the articles of clothing into Kakashi's chest. He was particularly interested in the forehead protector pinned to your shelf.

"You never told me you…" he started slowly, though you only smiled, somewhat sadly(nostalgically, more than anything. Those anime cons really WERE the best days you'd had..!).

"I already told you, Naruto's a popular show here." You pointed you, stepping aside to show the poster on your closet door, depicting, of course, Kakashi, Sakura, Naruto and Shikamaru(wtf was he doing there, you NEVER knew).

"…Oh crap." You muttered, staring at the poster very intently. The fact that Naruto was a popular anime/manga was EXACTLY the problem..! You'd never be able to go out with Kakashi in PUBLIC! Everyone would be fainting after seeing his face, or even just RECOGNISING him. I mean, it's not every day you see a living breathing ANIME CHARACTER walking around the streets..!!

"…What's that?" Kakashi asked after a while, breaking the awkward silence, pointing at your computer. Oh boy. THIS… Was going to be hard. Explaining what a phone, TV or radio was, THAT… That was relatively easy. But how the HELL do you explain what INTERNET is..?!

"…It's called a computer. It… Lets me talk to anyone else who has one." You said, deciding that saying it like THAT was a lot more easy. "Kind of like a phone. Though you don't talk, you just type…" You started, opening the dust-covered flatscreen monitor, typing your password. "Like thi-"

How many MSN windows were open? You DIDN'T even want to know. You gulped loudly, deciding to go offline and opening the MSN window. You changed your status.

I'm back and alive. I'll only tell where I was to Val, Martin, Chris and Karli. Love you guys!! (offline)

You sighed again, turning around to find Kakashi… Pretty much neatly fitting in your father's clothes. If only that the pants were a little loose… And small. Well hey, the guy was freakin' TALL. Not your fault. You figured you could steal something from your brother eventually.

"…Come on. It's more than about time to tell my parents what happened…" You whispered, opening your room's door.

…They'd NEVER believe you, would they?

//----------------------------------\\

Well, everything went QUITE better than you expected.

When you'd first walked into the giving room, your brother, Mister Dont-hug-me-or-Ill-burn-to-death actually GLOMPED you, tackle being SLIGHTLY a little too much for the action. Though you DID nearly fall over. He was sobbing into your shoulder; he thought you were dead. Along with half the world-wide population.

Because, yes, your particular case had made the news in QUITE a few countries. Notingly Canada, The U.S of A, China, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Australia and New-Zealand. People all over the world were trying to track you down; aeroplane tickets, train tickets, any odd transactions in your account. No one ever found anything, but somehow, they just never gave up.

Because they NEVER found a body.

That kept them hoping.

But afterwards, though, when your brother lifted his head to talk to you, tell you how worried he was… Well, if he didn't FAINT, he had done something pretty similar. After all, he HAD just seen Kakashi. And god KNOWS how addicted to anime he is. Almost more than you were. ALMOST. Not quite. You still had the cultural advantage of loving Japan more than anything in the world.

After he had recollected himself, your brother seemed to snap back to reality, pulling something out of his pocket. A… Napkin?

Begrudgingly, I took away the pen and napkin from Bud(who seemed resilient into letting go of his latest finds), and scribbled down something.

'I'm fine, you guys! I don't know how it is I can see you and you can't see me, but all I can say is NARUTO. I'm in their world, some how. I think I can't come back, so good b'

The letter you tried to write. That DREAM you had had MONTHS ago..! You had thought it felt so real; you had even woken up crying that morning because you WANTED it to be real… You wanted to have seen them, to have let them know you were okay.

And there was the proof that your gut instinct had been right. You HAD left a message. Though it was bluntly obvious that it wasn't all like you had remembered writing it, it was still there, in your brother's hand.

"…You really WERE there…" he said, though you understood the underlying question of it all.

"I really did write that message. I really was there. And if it wasn't for Kakashi, I'd already be dead." You whispered, feeling your heart thump louder and louder within your head. You felt somewhat dizzy. Confused, feverish, sick…

"…Yuuko, hadn't you okay? Yuu, Yuuko..!"

The voices started to fade out. You started to imagine that nice little song from Kingdom Hearts. You know… That nice little piano theme in the menu? Dearly beloved.. You'd searched for that song for HOURS one night. You could vaguely make out three hands on your back; you found that funny. Your brother wasn't an octopus… heh, besides, octopuses have EIGHT arms. Tentacles. Whatever…

//----------------------------------\\

Birds were chirping again. You hated having to wake up because of stupid, obnoxiously loud birds chirping at your window. Though, you thought, it's still better than waking up because of a watch. Speaking of which, you had left it somewhere in Kakashi's apartment. Hm. You wondered if anyone had noticed he was gone yet.

…Sakura.

Aw man, you said you'd be there for the girl any time of day! Crap. And you wanted to know how her story would end..! Or, well, at least how it would CONTINUE… But you had a feeling. You'd seen the trailers for the Naruto movie… Long ago, but still. Hm. Naruto still wasn't dead. Maybe he never died…? You'd like that. Never dying. Staying with the ones you love. Though never getting old, either.

Like pink flamingoes…

…SHITTERS!

There they were again! THREE MONTHS without thinking about pink flamingoes and there they RANDOMLY pop up!!

"…Damn flamingoes..!" you moaned, turning on your side, snuggling closer to Kakashi. No, wait… It really WAS a pillow. You chanced opening one eyes… And, yes, as a matter of a fact, it WAS your pillow. You sighed, yawned and stretching your arms, staring at your alarm clock.

Its red numbers flashed 8:17AM.

…Well shit, You'd been sleeping for…

How long had you been out? Surely not two whole DAYS, like last time. In fact...You didn't even know what time it was when you first came home. Though, it must've been in the morning, since you DISTINCTLY remember telling Michael Bublé to shut his sexy ass. Which, when you thought about, didn't make any sense at all. But whatever; you didn't make sense any more than what you said, anyways.

After having carefully tended to your painful leg(you tend to over-stretch yourself in the mornings, which makes your limbs VERY painful at times), you swung your legs over the side of your bed, coughing once or twice. Well, you sure didn't feel good. Not goo at ALL. You felt like you had a fever of 206°, all the while feeling like you were about to spit out your entire stomach, which, you vaguely thought, couldn't contain THAT much. After all, you'd just spent nearly twenty four hours SLEEPING.

…You needed to eat something. Your stomach, when it didn't tell you to spit it out, felt like it was turning itself into a VERY constricted knot. And it didn't feel good; worse than your monthly cramps. And THAT was saying something. Seeing as THOSE cramps were often associated with a red-hot pebble burning its way through your gut.

That, either, wasn't a very good feeling.

You stumbled to your feet, pulling your door open(and nearly falling back), rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. You stumbled down the hallway and into the kitchen. Your brows knitted into a frown, you started to venture around the house. Which, you soon concluded, was empty. Strange. You went to the living room window and checked in the driveway; no car. Not even your brother's. You shrugged and stepped back into the kitchen, suddenly realising you hadn't spotted Kakashi, either.

…It didn't take much thinking to know where he was. Guests always slept in the basement, making your mom endure your dad's painfully loud snoring.

After snatching a muffin from the top of the microwave(you guessed your mom had gone into a baking frenzy when you 'disappeared'), you stumbled down the stairs, jumping the last few steps like you always did, and headed towards your dad's ex-bed. You figured Kakashi would be staying here for a while.

"Oooi. Kakashiii." You grumbled, taking a rather large bite out of your muffin. "Wake up ya lazy-ass." You mumbled again, though this time you had trouble understanding the words you said, yourself.

"…What..?" Kakashi groaned, turning around, his face conveniently hidden by his hand. You though, again, at the back of your mind, that it must be a reflex for him to constantly hide his face in the morning. "Oh, it's just you." He sighed, letting his hand drop down the side of the bed, and rest against the cold enamel painted concrete floor.

"Yeah, love you too, now get up." You whined, propping your muffing into your mouth and pulling Kakashi out of bed by tugging on his arms.

Well, at least, you TRIED. It's almost as though the freakin' guy weighed a freakin' TON. Not like you cared all that much. You felt like cuddling up to someone anyways. So instead of fighting over wether or not to torture Kakashi into getting out of bed, you shoved the rest of the muffin into your mouth before crawling into bed with the jounin.

"How very lady like." He commented, and you could hear him chuckle under that sarcastic comment. Which earned him your knee in his back.

"Shut up. It's not my fault I hate being girly." You shrugged, though you slung an arm across his chest nonetheless.

Oooh, purdy muscle-y chest.

//----------------------------------\\

You woke up again, for the second time that morning, when you heard the front door open upstairs. You figured that your brother and parents were back from wherever they had gone. You ALSO noticed that Kakashi had slipped out of bed, leaving you hugging a pillow. Damn him.

You shrugged the pillow away, tossing it somewhere o the concrete floor in front of you, after you'd fallen out of bed. Slowly and NOT painfully, mind you. In fact, it's more like you let yourself SLIDE out of bed, and onto the floor. Which was impeccably clean, thanks to your being absent for the past three months. Because usually, you never saw the floor so clearly.

It always used to be littered with crumpled sketches, pens, pencils, erasers and all that.

SUCH was the life of a twenty two year old artist.

You groaned as you got up; your knee gave out that sickening popping sound again. That NEVER meant anything good for you. It ALWAYS meant that your chronic articulation pain would be around all day long.

Or that it was going to rain for a very very long time. Either way. Not fun for you.

You got up the steps, even though you felt like chopping your knee off halfway through. Up the stairs, you immediately headed towards the cabinets near the sink; they DID contained the marvellous little painkillers, after all. And god knew how much you needed them when your chronic pain came rolling by.

"…Yuuko…?" came a voice behind you; you immediately labelled it as MARTIN. And then Val. Seems the two had spoken your name at the same time.

Martin and Valerie. Your two best friends in the ENTIRE world. The two had recently decided to marry, after having dated for… Something like eight years. You had known them most of your life; Martin was like your private walking journal, and Val was your number one source for help, whenever you needed it. And you were the exact same thing for her.

…Not to mention Martin was your unofficial masseuse.

"Uh, hi. Painful knee. Decided to take-" You started, but, once again, you were tackled. By Val, of course. Martin knew better than to tackle you while you were taking PAINKILLERS. Which obviously indicated that you were in PAIN. Most likely the knee of a migraine. But, you guessed HE had guessed it was your knee, judging by the awkward way you were walking

"I'm so glad you're back..!" she sobbed, and you sighed, again, winking at Martin. That was the silent signal; 'GET HER OFFA ME'. You always understood each other without a word. That's what was fun.

"…Oh, right, we bought some stuff for, er…" Valerie started again, handing over a white back. They had gone to jeans Depot… For you? Well, mostly for-

"Kakashi. His name's Kakashi." You smiled lightly, inwardly snickering as you saw Martin's eyes widen for a fraction of a second. Either he knew that meant 'Scarecrow' in japanese, or he was mildly into Naruto, enough to know WHO that man was.

"Well yeah. For him." She laughed lightly, her cheeks and eyes lightly red, though Martin only seemed to be lightly flustered.

"Thanks a bunch..! Really, it means a lot. I don't know how I'd be able to survive if I brought him out in public…" You chuckled nervously, scratching the back of your neck

"Heard my name." Kakashi said lightly, poking his head through the doorway into the kitchen.

You laughed SO hard when Martin tripped over his own two feet.

"These are my two best friends; Val and Martin." You said happily, smiling ever so brightly, You vaguely thought, for a minute, that Kakashi might've never seen you smile like that before. Oh well. You couldn't help it. You were just so HAPPY.

"…Doozo yoroshiku ne." He said with somewhat of a grin, making Val's mouth twitch a little. It almost seemed as though she was forcing herself not to burst out laughing. You had to admit that if you had to see Kakashi for the first time, without knowing WHO he was… You'd be tempted to laugh, too.

Though afterwards, she took a step forward and leaned in a little bit. Seems that she was attracted by the scar over his sha-

"SO!" you exclaimed, jumping in front of Kakashi(totally ignoring the fact that he probably had a very good view of your rear), trying to pry Val's attention AWAY from the Sharingan. "Where are my parents? Woke up and they weren't here. I thought I heard them coming in…"

"Oh, yeah…" Martin started, biting his lower lip. "They… Had to go give a bunch of interviews saying you were found. They were up all night and day yesterday to try and find a story plausible, and getting people around them to cooperate without letting them know the details. They're really putting on a show for you, Yuuko." He explained, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"…Fuck." You swore, wincing at the idea of your story being found out eventually… And Kakashi being taken away by-

NOOOOOO way would that happen.

Though… There was one idea that had persisted in your head since you got back.

You HAD to go to Japan.

Why?

You felt that Masashi Kishimoto had more than a few explanations to give you.

After all, you weren't the only girl to have disappeared. Hitaru was one of them.

As well as Kaili.

And a bunch of other women back in Konoha… Back THERE.

"Heeeey, you guys wouldn't happen to have a few thousand buck to spare for a trip to Japan, would ya?" you asked sheepishly, giving your friends an impish grin.

"…Japan?" Kakashi asked, raising an eyebrow as you turned around.

…Oh crap.

This wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

Replies to Reviewers

_I decided I might repli to reviwers through the chapters, yep:3 I actually got the idea from an other author... But whatever. xD So yeah, I'll reply to my kind and nice reviwers here! Aren't you guys happy? XD _

**EverD**: Gee, I don't think this is what you expected Yuuko's mom's reaction to be, eh? XD I thought that it would be a little too overboard and a little too weird to have amother, who hasn't seen her daughter in months, start going on a crazy rampage because she randomly wake up in her bed one morning beside a strenger(though not to her daughter, obviously). I tried to make things a little realistic whilst keeping a touch of 'Wtf?' in it. X3 Hope you like it regardless.

**Natada Ainthe**: Hilarious? xD Wow, never thought I had a sense of humour to begin with. My friends always seem to find me boring. xP Oh well. And Kakashi IS hot, isn't he? xD

**Chibi Kabuto**: THANK YOU SO MUCH for reviewing at almost(if not) EVERY chapter of SaTJ! It really encourages me to write more. :3  
And no, Yuuko's mom doesn't swear.  
...Too much. XD  
The japanese have morals, you know! XD Not that I'd personally know, but like, whatever. . 


	14. Yume ja nai kara

**First, I'd like to start off by APPOLOGISING FOR THE SUPER OBNOXIOUS TIME THIS CHAPTER TOOK!!!  
I'm SOOOOOOOOO sorry! Every time I was coming on to write, I was like, 'shit. No inspiration.' And I FELT SO BAD about it, too!  
But now you have a chapter. So shhhhh. xD**

**Nex,t I'd like to point out that the last characters, Ikashi and Genkaku, don't belong to me. They respectfully belong to Yuu Tan and Illusion007 on Sheezy Art. AWESOME dudes, peoples. Check them out plzkthxbai. XD**

**And lastly, I must sya that Naruto and ANYTHING involving it does NOT belong to me.  
So yeah.  
You no sue. 8D**

**LOVE YOU ALL!!! D**

* * *

**Yume ja nai kara.  
**_It wasn't through a dream._

So it'd been a month since you came back home. Everything was starting to run smoothly after the first two weeks. The media had started to pull back, after extracting every bit of 'information' they could, from your parents AND yourself. Of course, for YOU to actually provide the speech-thirty camera people a nice little interview, your parents had to fill you in on EVERYTHING they had come up with.

And that was something that had to be done with Kakashi as well, who had been fit into the story as the hero who saved you when he noticed your bruised and battered for in the back on a van, as you kicked the back door to try and get out.

Oh yeah, it made quite the story, that adventure. Though your parents always had to tell Kakashi that he'd be better off AWAY from all the cameras, whereas he'd attract too much attention, not to mention a shitload of FREAKING CRAZY FANGIRLS, if he were to go public.

Not to mention your kidnappers might want to kill him.

YAH RIGHT.

So what were you doing as of now? You'd found a job with your mother at the optometrist she works for, and you were making a pretty big salary, even if you HAD just recently begun working. You had about twenty hours a week, which was PLENTY enough for you. After all, you were DEEPLY hating yourself for having to leave Kakashi alone in the world like that.

But like, you needed the money to know how to bring him back. Even though the very thought tore you apart. You WANTED to stay home… But, then again, over the past few months, Konoha HAD become your home.

And then you suddenly remember Lauren. That girl you always Rped with, BEFORE suddenly vanishing and reappearing in NarutoLand. And, at the thought, you nearly dropped the glasses you were labelling. YOU HAD to tell her everything that had happened..! And you HAD to drag her to Japan with you.

…For a SECOND time.

Because of course, like you had promised when you were fifteen, you and your BEST of friends had gone to japan for a year, and come back, obviously. And this time, you'd drag Lauren along AGAIN. And maybe Celleste, too. That Kakashi-obsessive friend of yours. Oh, she'd kill you when she'd peice everything together…

Which brought you back to your current situation. You needed money for two plane tickets to japan and possibly back again. And you'd need your passport updated, since it WAS out of date. Picture, info and all.

Not to mention you had to get one for Kakashi.

Speaking of which, you'd have to find him a job. He couldn't stay unemployed while you worked your ass off for your very own SURVIVAL, right? After all, you were DESPERATE to buy yourself an appartment, now that you actually had someone you were…

Well yeah.

And you weren't going to pay for it alone. Oh HELLS NO!

"…Yuuko? Earth to YUUUUUU!" Julie, the other new girl, called. You bit back a scream after being 'snuck up on' and NEARLY dropped the glasses. It took you a few seconds before realising to had thrown them, and only a fraction of one to catche them.

It was actually a funy scene after you thought about it.

"Eh, what?" you snickered nervously, scratching the back of your head with your free hand. Julie(otherwise known to you as Jubyjube) was a nice girl, even though she had her rather annoying moments at times. Like… Now.

"I SAID, when do you plan on going to Japan, you moon head!" The girl giggled, mostly at the scene, you guessed, that you had so wonderfully displayed for the few clients in the store.

"I don't know." You shrugged, letting down the small tray with several pairs of glasses on the front counter, carefully telling the receptionist who they were for, before walking off with Julie. "I have to get the money for an appartment, furniture and stuff… And then the plane tickets. A year, maybe…" You sighed, hanging your head.

"…Wow… That long? Hope things work out faster than that." Julie encouraged, lightly tapping your shoulder. "Speaking of which, when'll we get to see your big hero, huh?" She asked in a snicker, poking your arm repeatedly.

"My hero..?" You echoed, before your brain kicked into mach speed as you realised she was referring to Kakashi. As he was known to be the one that saved you from your so called kidnappers. Oh sure. Yeah. "Uh, yeah, um… He's not really the type to come out in public…" You muttered, once again scratching the back of your neck.

"Well that's weird." Julie muttered, crossing her arms in front of the employee's lobby door. "Not fond of coming out in public, but he saves your sorry butt from one of the most renouned kidnappers known to mankind? That's one strange dude."

Crap. Your stories were really starting to vary a little too much. You'd have to start WORRYING about what you'd say about Kakashi, now, too! ON TOP of worrying about keeping your job, Keeping KAKASHI a secret for as long as humanly possible, as well as keep your going to Konoha a secret from the entire world.

Oh yeah.

Easy.

//----------------------------------\

SO you had dared to take Kakashi out in the daylight two weeks after you had talked with Julie. That was probably the biggest MISTAKE you had ever made in your entire life! Not only were camera's surrounding you pretty much everywhere you went, but fangirls left and right were asking for autographs(or fainting), not to mention that you were blind by the end of the day because of all the flashes you had gotten in the eyes.

Not to mention that you had lost track of how many times you'd appologised to Kakashi in the same day. Even though he understood your world's geography and some of the history behind Naruto, it was still a little BLUNTLY OBVIOUSLY confusing for the man.

"It's alrigth, don' t worry about it…" Kakashi chuckled, as you both rested on the bench in the park behind your place.

"Don't WORRY about it? These idiots've been following us around all that and you tell me NOT TO WORRY?" You replied in near psychotic-ness, holding back the many swears you had wanted to say. Public tevelevision and swear words aren't good adverstisement.

"…Yes, I think that's exactly what I'm saying." He replied with that heart-belting smile, it seems, only you were allowed to receive. Not that you actually mind that little fact. It's jsut that you didn't like the cameras catching every fucking second of it.

"…Would you all just LEAVE PLEASE?!" you wound up yelling, scaring off every cameraman… Exept ONE. "I told you to leave, dude." You muttered, standing up and tapping your foot impatiently.

"And I'm not leaving. Isn't that SAD." The guy replied, and you suddenly found yourself with the very hard-tp-repress urge to make it in sorts that he never ever had any kids in his life.

"Come on, we're leavi-" You started, but found yourself pulled back by the man who had once held the camera. "Let go." You whispered in a low growl, glaring at the camera intensely.

"You never said his name during the day. Why's that?"

PWN'D, you thought bitterly, as you kept on glaring at the camera.

"One less way for obsessive fanpeople like this cameraman to obtain ridiculous amounts of information on him and create various sites and screwy fanfictions about him." You replied curtly, turning away from the camera, almost completely forgetting about Kakashi. Though you figured he'd follow. Eventually.

Though, just as you turned around to call Kakashi when you realised he wasn't, in fact, following you back home, you nearly either fainted or killed someone.

"Hatake Kakashi."

That FUCKTARD had DARED talk to Kakashi while your back was turned! Oh, man, if you weren't killing someone today, it was a miracle.

And so of course, the day after that little encounter with the annoying jackdonkey of a cameraman, every TV on the world, and everyone OWNING them, displayed pictures of Kakashi actually saying his name, with that smile you thought he'd only ever show to you.

Though it might have a bright side, you though, as you figured Kakashi would have NO problem finding a job, now that he was out in the open. Everyone would be harassing him to work at their place, wether he'd be competant or not. Though, the more you thought about the jobs he might want to do, you just COULDN'T imagine him anywhere else than in, of course, a dojo. In fact, you'd decided YOU'D harass him to to ask some dojo owner to be a teacher. He'd kick ass, and BIG time.

//----------------------------------\

"Tadaima!" You called throughout the apartment, marrily heading towards your room to get rid of your shoes.

It had been a few weeks since you finally finished moving into your spiffy new apartment with Kakashi. To your NOT so big surprise, Kakashi HAD snatched a job at the local dojo, like you had so deviously planned. And he was pretty good at teaching, too! Not like you were really surprised. Not like ANYONE was, really.

AND the job came with one HELL OF A salary, too! Me made almost three times as much as you did in a year! Which would be 60 grand a year, mind you.

"Okaeri." He greeted in return, wrapping his arms around your waist and dropping a kiss on your neck. It was your last day of work before you left for japan the next day. Suitcases were already packed and ready near the bed.

"It's going to be nice to finally know why all this's happened…" You muttere in half-relief; although you were desperate to know what happened and why it did, something told you you weren't going to like the answer.

It didn't take much for you to fall asleep afterwards, seeing as you came home at nine. Kakashi had generously offered to make you a quick dinner, before going to bed for the next long and tiring day.

You had to take the plane at four in the morning, dontcha kno, and the airport wasn't that close to your puny little hometown. Though you woke up, showered, got dressed and ate as you usually did, and then proceeded to wake up Kakashi saying that Sasuke was most likely going to beat him to a bloody pulp if he didn't get to the meeting on time, like you usually did.

You grabbed your suitcases, and raced outside to your dad's car, and thus was how you got to the airport. Which was EMPTY. It was almost a ghost… place. Though you didn't mind it that much; you prefered calm places when you were stressed.

"Love you sis." Your brother whispered to your ear, his newly bleached hair tickling your ears. You couldn't help but inwardly squee as you saw that his finger had been freed from its marital shackle. His fiancée really WAS a bitch.

"Take care of the apartment for us?" Kakashi asked with a smirk, his arm still and always around your shoulders.

Your brother smiled sumbly and crossed his arms, nodded sharply and made a weird 'ding' sound, just like a genie. You chuckled lightly at that, before dropping a kiss on both your parents' cheeks.

"I'll be back in a month." You smiled, before walking away to the plane, which had just been announced to depart in ten minutes.

When you got on the plane, you already had a bad feeling. There was barely anyone on board; you, Kakashi, and maybe ten or fifteen other passengers. Tey stared intently at both of you, a little girl looking up at him with those cute little boogly, curious eyes.

The plane took of a few minutes after you sat down, the last passenger barely making it inside on time. You smiled at them and they smiled back ,a silent joke passing between you two.

//----------------------------------\

"Yuuko… Wake up." Kakashi whispered to your ear, finding that your head was rocking back and forth VERY uncomfortably. Turbulancies. At least, that's what you could understand from the garbled announcement.

"…K-Kakashi? What…" You asked have-asleep, but very well conscious enough to assess that you were probably going to die in a plan wreck.

"You're going to be fine, I promise." He whispered to your ear, the sound of the little girl crying, and various prayers, hitting your ears at the same time, all the while two strong arms wrapped around your frail and shaky form.

"I love you." He whispered to your ear, and as much as you'd have wanted to whisper it back, you wouldn't have been able to, as the trees tore at the-

**NO!**

**No…**

**It wasn't like that. It can't be. I didn't die that day. I survived…**

"Oi. Yuuko. You alright..?" The man above you asked, his face veiled, his red eyes protruding in the darkness, scanning your own purple orbs.

"…F-fine. I just… I remember… She was…" You muttered, sitting up, the black cloak fluttering lightly around you as you stood up. "Sorry, Ikashi. I just… Passed out, I guess."

"Be more careful next time… Genkaku's waiting for you. You should go see him." Ikashi stated, a certain forboding tone in his voice, as he walked away from the small room you'd trained int, the red and white clouds seemed to remain a moment in your minds after the man's cloaked dissapeared behind the doors.

"…What… Happened to me?"

* * *

_Replies to Reviewers _

_**EverD: **Glad you liked Mom's reaction even though it wasn't what you expected. xD I really did try my best to make it... Realisitc. Ha, Yuuko's mom takes a LOT of things better than the norm. XD_

_**Maskde Ai: **The name of the story..? xD Strange thing, in fact. I wrote a fic, a while back, called Vinegar and Baking Soda(My Chemical Romance). And then, in the same line of thought, you could say, I created Pepsi and Menthos, a really sucky fic that people hated. But when it came to THIS fic, I couldn't think about any other chemical reactions... So I had to go see my DAD(who sucks in science). He came up with the name._

_**Chibi Kabuto: **Oh, they went to Japan alright... They just... Don't, er, remember it that well. I think. w ;  
THANKS for being a loyal reviewer, ftw! 3_


	15. Tsugi no sedai

**First of all, I'd like to apologise for not being around here a lot. You must all be surprised to see the message in your emails; New Chapter for Sugar and Tomato Juice. I'll admit, this took too much time, and I'm sorry... I've just had a lot going on, and this is really a privilege. See, I've been computer grounded. Haha. Long story, that is.  
In any case, this chapter might explain a little more what happened in the LAST chapter. If not, well, I'll make sure to explain it at the end, before the replies to the comments. C: **

Lastly, I'd like to thank all of you who've commented and faved and added this story to your alerts; I really WOULD have sent you all individual thanks, but it's kind of hard to do that without an internet connexion in my room... And a password on every other computer in the house.  
Although, while I can't be on a lot, I can work on chapters and stories more than ever before; you can start expecting a Kingdom Hearts fanfic soon, I can tell you that!

In any case, I think you're annoyed to read this author's note...  
So just read the chapter already. xD

* * *

**Tsugi no Sedai  
**_The next generation_

She reluctantly headed back inside, in that hideout she had gotten used to over the past two years. She'd been raised in that makeshift house and made into the woman ,the killer she was today. And she was proud of her teacher, Ikashi, and proud of herself. Yuuko had become something she'd always, somehow, looked up to. She'd become brave, heartless. She feared herself, yes, but after a certain time, she had gotten used to seeing death. It had become part of her every day life, she had been forced to see mice, deer, all kinds of animals, die in front of her, just to get her used to the concept of death. She had been reeducated, like a newborn child, into this world of horrors and blood.

And she loved it, because she didn't remember anything else.

In fact, that was a lie. Yuuko had started to remember many a thing from her past, from her parents to her brother, and even her little few months spent in Konoha alongside Hatake Kakashi. She remembered the rather.. Explicit moments they'd shared, her journey to go to Japan to find Masashi Kishimoto, and find explanations to her switching worlds. But of course, everything was only a drabble. Yuuko was certain that the picture she made of everything was far from being accurate at all.

"Yuuko." Ikashi called in a lightly arsh tone, looking back at the woman. "Genkaku's waiting for you. Don't make him wait." He added, before dissapearing in some room, leaving Yuuko to venture off to find her own apprentice.

She'd been training a young man, more or less her age(not like she even really cared) for a month and a half, now. He was quite the specatcle; he could barely ever get something right on his first try. Though, of course, the second and third tries were always... A different story. He either made an attack so powerful he might've killed himself, or, in the other case, he blew something up.

"Shut up, don't say a word and just pick a damn sword." Yuuko ordered, shutting the door with some whip of chakra. She was strict with her apprentice, she didn't allow pitty. If he made mistakes in a fight, he'd lose his life. Might as well impress the idea of dying for a stupid mistake as soon as possible, right?

"Can't we just... Meditate, for once..?" Her student whispered, bracing himself for the blow that always used to ensue. Though Yuuko nearly stood there, her hand open and ready to grasp the katana in front of her. Her face remained unchanged; she simply stood there, frozen in time.

He was onto something. Yuuko could tell right away. He wasn't one to propose something so... Unattached to her planned curriculum. Or if he DID ask for a change, he would want to train harder or less, depending on the situations, and depending on the woman's own health(it wasn't all that good lately). She shifted her eyes to the left, staring down at the poor man.

"...What. Do you want. To know." Yuuko asked between clenched teeth, finally closing her deadly grip on the katana. "Because your curiosity is so bloody obvious I'm nearly blind." She added, frowning slightly more.

"You j-just seemed a little worried when you came in..! That's all, really." Genkaku hurried himself to reply, waving his hands in front of him. He was really just intrigued as to why his teacher seemed to upset when she walked in. Yes, her entrances were often(if not always) explosive to a degree, but there was a difference between wanting to fight and wanting to get everything over with.

"It's none of your buisness." Yuuko growled, throwing the Katana in the man's direction, grabing one for herself, unsheathing it. "And even if it was, you wouldn'T even dare to believe a word I'd say."

And the fight started.

A dot of crimson and a flash of orange hair were neary fluorescant in the night's scenery, in those forgotten woods. Both women simply stared at the sky, one tracing imaginary lines, the other just staring into space, trying to make sense of the dream she'd seen, the past she'd had to relive.

"You know, Yuuko, you can talk about it." The redhead commented, daring a glance at the older woman.

"Nothing you'd want to know, Kio." Yuuko sighed, raising her arms and resting it against her forehead. For a second, she could've sworn she had a fever. She brushed off the impression. After all, fevers, for the woman, were starting to be somewhat of a normal temperature.

"Awww... Come on, please?" the redhead pursued, determined to wring and answer out of the elder kunoichi. Yuuko simply denied her the information she wanted time after time, late into the night.

"...What's it like, out there..?" Kio asked after a while, in a dreamy voice. It must have been somewhere near midnight, or in the early morning hours. Yuuko's stomach was starting to feel as though it was eating itself; it wasn't a pleasant feeling.

"Out where?" Yuuko muttered, nearly sleeping, only kept awake by her hunger and thirst.

"Well...That... Other world, you used to live in. I her Pein-sama talking about it the other day... I was just wondering what it's like." Kio explained, in a whisper, starting to trace imaginary constellations.

Yuuko remained silent for a moment. She didn't remember much about that place herself. It was only two years ago, but so much was crammed into her head in the meanwhile, she never had a single second to herself to even dare remember about what her parents, faces looked like.

"...Well... I had a dog... And a brother, and my parents were alive." She started, already starting to regret talking. "I went to school... But we didn't learn ninjutsu or all that. In fact, I'm not even sure if chakra even existed at all." Kio gasped then, earning a light chuckle from the elder woman.

"B-but, how can that be..?! You die without chakra!" Kio whined, sitting upright.

"I said I THINK. We might've had chakra... Just, no one knew how to use it, I guess..." Yuuko shrugged, closing her eyes again, trying to focus on her memories rather than her growling stomach. "Well... The buildings were mostly made of metal, with stained windows. There were cars, too, I think... Like cans on four wheels. You could go places faster like that. Uh... I graduated from highschool when I was seventeen... That's the second level of scholarship. I managed to find a job where my mother worked, until I got zapped and brought here. Went back, got an other job, plane crash, all that shit, wound up on this roof with you." She finished, mumbling through the last few words.

Kio lay there, silent, trying to process the information that had been given to her. Though, when she asked what a plane was, Yuuko laughed somewhat, sayig that they were like giant metal birds that could carry hundreds of people. The comparisson with Deidara's clay birds made the woman laugh a little more, before she sat upright and his the roof with her fist.

"My stomach, I SWEAR, is eating itself. You up for a midnight snack?" She asked Kio, who giggled lightly at her Sempai's craziness. She agreed, and both women descended to go eat something.

Both women sat around one of the tables, scattered scarcely across the rather large room. Within the room were confined refrigerator and pantry alike, holding food from different origins to fit everyone's needs. From raw fish heads to severed limbs, going through cakes and soups. Yuuko ventured through the numerous shelves of food in the pantry, teasing Kio a few times, offering a glass of blood or perhaps an old, decomposing arm. The thoughts sent both shivering, though they both laughed at the older woman's morbid humour.

As both professional assassin and rookie alike drank from their mugs of hot cocoa(something Kio had proposed after Yuuko had offered, for the third time, some human limb), the elder woman couldn't help but smirk sadly at the dark, steaming liquid. Morbid humour; it had always, as far as she could remember, been her way to avoid the harsh reality of the events that hurt her most.

Like giving up her daughter.

-----

_Twenty three years old._

_Still single._

_Not much of a virgin anymore. And she couldn't even try to hide it from herself. Nine months ago, it would've been believable. But now, running through the forest with a cooing child in her hand, things were a little different. _

_She had birthed a wonderful little girl with flaboyant violet and silver hair, eyes as grey as a stormy night. Kashiori, she had called the infant. She found it befitting. Kashiori... Hishitake. Hishimoto would make it too obvious to that idiotic village that she was Yuuko Hishimoto's daughter. _Her _daughter. And Hatake would just hang a sign over her head. No, instead, the young mother blended those two names together, as a keepsake, should anything happen to herself, or the father._

_Speaking of the father, he was probably up reading, at this time of night, patiently waiting for slumber to overrule any coherent thought, and swipe the earth from beneath his feet. And she would give him one last visit, and not even, really, in the best of states. She was in an emotional conflict. She wanted to give this wretched infant away as soon as she could; _it _would be a nuissance to her training, and her life in general. Not to mention Deidara would have _it_ exploded the second she ventured too close to him._

_Then again, what _good_ mother would ever hand over her child willingly, knowing that she might never see them(her, in this case) ever again? Though at the moment, what really worried the poor mother was whether or not _Kakashi _would let her so much as come near Kashiori, even if only once or twice, even if it would be her dying wish._

'It must be done.' _She thought, with as much resolve as she could muster. Even though that wasn't much at all. As long as she could keep that concept it mind, she would go through with this._

_Reaching the vilage was done fairly easily. A few stupid rogue ninja to whom the name _Hishimoto _meant nothing at all dared cross steel with the mother, but they were soon disposed of. She had expected encountering vermin here and there, though sh never thought they would attack so ignorantly..._

_As soon as the gates, all to familiar, came into view, Yuuko made quick work of hiding her chakra. So little time had passed-a year, only- and she already was fairly skilled for a kunoichi that had just recently been introduced to chakra control. She doupted that she would've ever come so much as within a mile of Ikashi's strength, even if she hadn't had this child._

_After crossing the gates, the rest was just childs' play. Once she got through the guards without being noticed, she dashed towards where she thought Kakashi might still be residing. After four years, though, she imagined he might move. Which was why, after being no less than a few meters away from the building she suspected of holding her past beloved, her eyes swirled into a blur of purple. Those eyes could see a great number of things, not at precise as the byakugan, but still better than the blood's trace. She frowned as she didn't reocgnise any chakra in tha building as the one she looked for. She didn't know, exactly, what type of chakra she should be looking for. But she just knew that he wasn't there._

_His old room came to mind, and Yuuko headed approximatly towards that area. She really hadn't the slightest clue as to where in the blazes that place was. But, she figured, her heart, and her child's heart, would surely guide her._

_Sure enough, it took nothing but a few minutes before the young, flamboyant mother came to the doors of the room she hadn't stepped in, it seemed, a thousand years. She had cleverly disposed of her Akatsuki cloak a ways away from the village, someplace she knew she would be able to recuperate it later; she knew that Ueki and Ikashi would surely chew her head off if she'd lost it. No, instead, Yuuko had brought along a dark, blank cloak, and had draped the hood over her head._

_As she knocked on the door for the first time in nearly four years, Yuuko's throat had found itself knotted tighly, and she found it difficult to swallow. She thought, for a few fleeting moments, that it wasn't too late to turn around and run for it, just grab the cloak and let whatever may happen to her child. And she had just about agreed with herself to do just that when the door opened, a disgruntled(not to mention grumpy) jounin just leaning in the doorway._

_"It's late, miss. You shouldn't be out so late." He mumbled, narrowing his eyes at the infant in the woman's arms. The hair, he thought, just seemed so familiar, even if it was only in his mind._

_"I've come to give you what's rightfully yours, Kakashi." She spoke quietly, bowing her head as to hide her face. Her voice, Yuuko knew, would give her away._

_Kakashi took a step or two back, for a moment, just staring at mother and child alike with pure disbelief. Yuuko chuckled at this gesture; Hatake wasn't one to let his emotions pierce through so easily. He must surely be, she figured, surprised to see me with his daughter._

_"She's... You have to be kidding me." Kakashi whispered, letting mother and child inside his one-room demeure, closing the door only after having carefuly inspected the corridor for any shinobi that might've followed._

_"I came alone, Kakashi. Don't worry." Yuuko sighed wearily, pushing back the hood of her cloak, staring lovingly down at her daughter. He hair had grown out, Kakashi noticed, since the last time he had seen her. He had gained this way of walking, this air about herself, that certainly had nothing of the young, innocent woman he had known before. THIS woman had completely consumed the Yuuko he had known before; death clung to her as though it was her clothes, and maternity had done miracles to her skin. And, it seemed, she had lost the entirety of the weight she had put on during pregnancy. Though, of course, none of this surprised him in the least; he shouldn't expect any less from a member of the Akatsuki._

_"I came here to talk about Kashiori's future in this village, and your role in her life."_

_-----_

"Yuuko? Are you okay? Yuuuuuuko?" Kio called out, passing her hand in front of her elder a good amount of times, before the latter seemed to even take notice that she wasn't in Kakashi's room anymore, that she was sitting with Kio, a good friend, in one of the various spots they would usually meet.

"Sorry, Kio." Yuuko smiled sadly, sighing and looking down at her mug. It was already half empty..?

"It's okay. I mean, it's not like it's the first time you've zoned out on me, right?" the younger woman laughed, taking another, generous gulp of the warm, nearly reassuring, beverage.

"Yeah, I've been doing that a little too much for my own comfort lately..." Yuuko shrugged, looking to the side, staring out in space for a few seconds. She brought herself quickly, though, not wanting to stray on painful past memories. "You should go to bed. You have a mission tomorrow, remember?"

On that, Kio swore and jumped to her feet, excusing herself for her rather rushed leave, and bade Yuuko both farewell and good night.

The early morning sun found Yuuko's lair far too quickly, wking her from a light sleep. Though, she thought bitterly, it seemed she had slept long and deeply enough to have a nightmare or two. Every time that happened, though, the mother had always been trouble. Her nights were usually sleepless or spent on reading the future in her dreams. Never just having nightmares about her past.

"...My past..." Yuuko whispered to herself, looking out the small round window to her left. An ethereal, orange glow seemed to illuminate the entire hidden village. It was strange, yes, if you can't picture it very well. If, though, you can imagine the tall building, wires and poles, pipes of various sizes, and all that packed in a small contained area... All you had to do to that rural scene is add an orange glow coming from the east(since, after all, that _is_ where the sun rises).

Yuuko sighed and got out of bed, after swinging her numbed legs over the edge. It was probably going to be an other day of training with Ikashi... Or, perhaps, she would be able to see Sasori. Or Ueki. Or Deidara. Either way, if she could see any one of the four, she would be happy. Not that she didn't know or like the other members, it's just...

Well yes, actually, her social life was pretty drab and empty.

She headed towards the small kitchen, if you can call it that, after dressing in what she would usually be wearing if she wasn't under her dress-like Akatsuki cloak. Which, due to lack of time and will to go buy anything else, often resumed itself to be a pair or black pants, rolled to the knees, a fishnet shirt under a black tanktop. Bandages often covered her left thigh, whilst a kunai holster was strapped to her right one.bandages also wrapped her right ankle, which had proven to be troublesome over the past few weeks. And, that day, you could clearly see the bandages that lay underneath her tanktop, their limits being higher than the actual garment.

Again, she thought to herself, an other boring day alone with nothing to do except stare and pretend to be okay.

* * *

**Before starting to explain, I have to tell you that the only characters I own are Yuuko and her daughter, Kashiori. Ueki belongs to Alex, Kio belongs to... Well, herself, while Ikashi belongs to Lydell. Masashi Kishimoto obviously own all the rest this story is built on. **

Following through with the explanations!  
Yuuko, obviously, started out as your oblivious 22 year old with a dream to discover a new world. Wound up in Konoha in consequence. She found her way back home, only to find a fiery desire to know what happened. En route to Japan to find Masashi Kishimoto and finally understand WHY everything is happening, Kakashi and Yuuko find themselves in a plane crash, which, miraculously enough, winds up bringing Yuuko BACK to that sacred Ninja world... In the Akatsuki Lair. And of course, THAT'S where the title comes in. She's 'brought up' as a kunoichi by Ikashi, a shady and mysterious man. She makes friends, has a few... Unwanted events going on.

Clearer? Good. because I REALLY want to answer those comments!

_Replies to Reviewers _

_**Chibi Kabuto: **Haha, I hope the few explanations above helped you out! I actually did it thinking about your confusion. And as for the titles, I sadly couldn't translate ALL of them... Though I _did _transalte last chapters(and the one before, I think). And so I decided to do it with every chapter. C:_

_**BloodNinja555: **Heh... Like I said at the beginning, I'm computer grounded. But, also, the reasons I took so long to update was because of the various projects and personnal issues going on around me. I really _AM _sorry though, honest! I really tortured myself late at night to get up and write. Weird how it came more naturally over the holidays... Ha. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, though!_

_**invisible-gurl: **Haha, you confused the names! It's IKASHI. Some other guy. And to explain his story, I'd have to publish an other story... And I'd have to get his conscent. And even if I DID have it, I wouldn't write anything about him... Simply because it's not my place to write down his character's story. Also! That dream part was Yuuko remembering how she had gotten there in the first place. C: _

Your comments are all GREATLY appreciated, and thank you again to ALL OF YOU who've added this story to your alerts. It makes me feel somewhat... Special, to know that my story can get you hooked. 

_Also, I'd like to add that SaTJ is a very special story for me; it's the _VERY FIRST STORY _that I've planned out from the beginning to the end, and even beyond! The more time passes by, the more I can't help but thinking that J.K. Rowling is a genius to have done this for Harry Potter. Thinkg out the entire story, plan out everything from beginning to end, in your head... Then try your best to write it out in a way to captivate people.  
It's the first time I do this, and certainly not the last! _

Thank you all again.  
Until the next update...! 


	16. Nigeru suki ga nakatta yo!

**Hahaaaaa...! I had the most hilarious(yet heartbreaking) comment for the last chapter, by an Anon reader. Too bad I can't contact them; I would've really liked to send them an email or something...**

_**Missionrwh wrote: **_

_**I'm actually quite sad reading this. I know a story needs conflict ans such, but after being kidnapped by the Akatsuki once and saved, only to find herself there again and now a part of them? I feel kind of like I've been kicked in the gut and the story is laughing at me. TT**_

**I admit, it's ironic and... Well, I've thought about the entire thing for WEEKS, wouldn't you know, and I finally decided to take that course of action. Why? Because I don't think I would've ever finished the story if it hadn't been for that monstrous turn of events.**

**Sad and twisted?**

**Yes.**

**Mary-Sue?**

**Yyyyyyyyyeah. Most likely.**

**But hey, you can't deny that it makes for an interesting story, right?**

**Blablabla, Naruto belongs to Masashi and I only own Yuuko and Kashiori and all that disclamer hogwash. C:**

* * *

**Nigeru suki ga nakatta yo!  
**_I had no chance to escape!_

The lights had been dimmed in the small room. Deprived of windows, daylight could not stream into the space and enlighten the mood. The only source of illumination came from candles, burned to nearly nothing at all. Yuuko lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling, all the while rubbing her stomach unconsciously. Recently, she had fallen sick several times in the period of two months, nauseous moments taking over the most of her time. Of course she knew what was happening with her.

Eery mother does.

She just refused to believe it.

"You don't have to knock." She spoke up, closing her eyes slowly as the oak door was slowly pried open, a pale hand closing it behind them.

"A pregnant woman is always a lethal weapon." The voice commented, and the other woman could clearly hear the smirk in the voice. It was eerily similar to his, so Sasori's... But yet so strikingly different.

"What do you want, Ueki?" Yuuko sighed, well aware that the ice-obsessed younger woman was most likely bent on making her talk about _feelings_. Which really had always been an epic failure as the Akatsuki had been trained not to talk about their emotions.

"News travels fast in the grapevine. Is it a boy or a girl?" the younger woman asked, taking a seat on the edge of Yuuko's bed and staring into her emerald greens.

"How the bloody hell should I know?" the elder kunoichi muttered, running a hand down her face. "I'm, barely a few weeks pregnant, and I'm still refusing to believe it. Come back to me on that in a few month, when I'll have gained a few thousand pounds."

Ueki snickered somewhat, before poking Yuuko's feet repeatedly. She woman squirmed, instantly jolting up and giving the other girl a rather violent jab in the arm.

"Quit it you frickin' witch." Yuuko snapped, her right eye twitching violently.

"Takes one to know one."

"At least I don't deny it."

Both women stayed like that for a moment, before Yuuko sighed and let herself fall back on the bed, laughing lightly. It was a bittersweet laughter, tinged with melancholy and reminiscence of old times. It really was the worst thing to do at that moment, remember about what she'd done...

But she was damned if she wasn't going to remember who she'd been.

-----

"Hi no Hana!" she cried, performing some sort of a dance before slamming her hands to the ground. Instantly, sparks started dancing around her, crawling up the legs of her enemies, setting fire to whatever they touched. Rapidly, her body was engulfed in flames, harmless to her own body, ye lethal to anything they touched.

The shinobi she had been facing were aghast; that technique hadn't ever been taught outside of Konoha, much less to a missin-nin. It was inconceivable that some rogue kunoichi such as herself would know, and master, just a reputable jutsu.

"Fire blossom..." Yuuko breathed, letting the flames soar upwards in an enormous globe, before crashing down on the earth, killing only humans, sparing animals and plantlife alike.

"Carry this secret to the grave, boys." She muttered somberly to the simmering remains of what once were shinobi, walking past the carbonated bodies and further into the forest.

The hidden villages had started closing in on the Akatsuki, more and more. Not that the actually organisation was hidden, per se. The thunder country had been labeled with their name. No, it was just that the villages had started getting closer and closer. They were becoming more daring, and perhaps more careless, of what they did with their shinobi. The ones Yuuko had taken down a few moments ago, she was willing to admit they weren't much. Easily disposable shinobi that weren't that high up in ranking yet.

She froze in her steps and twinged at the thought. Some remnant of the woman she had once been screamed out in her mind. _Weren't that high up YET._ They still had lives to lead, and they would never get that chance back again because of her.

"Stupid thoughts." She growled to herself, shaking her head and carefully hiking her way back to the top of the large hill. From there, she would be able to see the town, and make her way back to Ueki, Kio and the others. She would be back in her comfort zone, at least until the next mission she was given.

She slowesd her pace near the top of the mound; something cold had hit her nose. Rain? It was too dry of a season, and too cold, for rain to even fall on the ground. Looking up at the sky, Yuuko sighed somewhat happily upon noticing large, white flakes of snow falling from the sky.

_'By the time I make it back'_ she thought, _'There'll already be two feet of snow..._'

The idea wasn't very enchanting; walking through two feet of snow, the way she was dressed, wasn't the ideal thing to do. In a cloak that had been made to fit her curves perfectly and trimmed to expose half of her thighs and shoes barely made for walking...

"Pregnant, half-naked woman in the snow. Brilliant. Blood brilliant." She shrugged at herself, and continued her hike to the top of the hill.

-----

"Have any name ideas?"

"Hiroi or Hirao." Yuuko answered determinedly, slowly turning the page to the book she had been reading for three days straight.

"Pretty strange names." Ueki commented silently, carefully sculpting a small cube of ice into something that was yet to be determined.

"I agree. Shouldn't you give them more... Appropriate names?"

"Like Itachi? I honestly doupt my child would liked to be called a weasel." Yuuko scoffed, roughly slamming both covers together, signaling that her entourage now had her complete attention.

Something that they had been working hours on having.

"Well, not like Itachi, exactly..." Kio muttered, crossing her arms and staring at the floor in thought. "But, you know, something like Kaihou, or Sonzai. Something with meaning."

"My name doesn't mean anything _meaningful_. Actually, the way it's written, it doesn't mean a damn thing." Yuuko snapped back, crossing her arms in turn.

"I think Friendship is a cool meaning." Tesa chirped in for the first time, standing by the door of one of the numerous common rooms in the complex.

"It's either that or Effective." Genkaku pointed out, just barely arriving in the room. He'd been there long enough, at least, as to receive a rather painfully hard pillow to the face.

"Get out, you moron apprentice." Yuuko growled after the younger shinobi, who eagerly whisked himself out of the room and down the hallway.

"...Yuuko's still better than Hiroi." Kio spoke up after a few minutes of dense, uncomfortable silence. "I mean, I'd rather call my kid Effective instead of Broad."

Ueki and Tesa both nodded in agreement, which made yuuko groan in exasperation. She was going to call her son(if it even was a boy to begin with) Hiroi, whether the entire world was out for her or not! And they all knew that; so why were they still trying to persuade her?

"Yuuko, we need to talk." Ikashi called, breaking the silence that had reigned in the room for several minutes.

Yuuko sighed, feeling her blood running over her body a little faster. She knew what their discussion would be about, and she had hoped that he would wait a little longer before approaching her about it.

-----

"I'm not giving him away!" she yelled, slamming her fist against the doorframe. "He's my god damned son! I'd rather hang myself than give him away, you understand?!"

Ikashi sighed heavily; the conversation(or rather, Yuuko's explosive monologues) had been running in circles fo rthe past hour, always returning to the fact that she would never give up her baby, no matter what he threatened to do to her. She kept saying _Do whatever you want to me, I care more about his health than my own._

"...so you're certain it's a boy, then?" the elder man asked, his finger intertwined as he sat in one of the two chairs disposed in the room.

"Damn fucking sure I am." Yuuko spat, glaring daggers as the rogue ninja.

"You won't be able to take care of him like you should." Ikashi stated calmly, apparently as cool as collected as when he had first gone in the common room to fetch Yuuko.

"I don't care. I gave up Kashiori, I'm not giving up Hiroi." The woman growled, small beads of blood falling to the ground. She had held her fists tight; her nails were digging into the skin of her palm.

Ikashi sighed again, waving his left hand and, usingthe armrest to his rest, let his head fall on his right hand, balled into a loose fist.

"There's really nothing I can do to convince you otherwise?"

"Nothing."

"Will you at least, in the events of your death, leave him in someone's charge?"

"I'd be a horrible mother if I didn't."

-----

Yuuko had once again found herself laying on one of the thousand of roofs I the district, staring up at the few stars she could see. At night, like that, it reminded her of home. Where she used to live, with hr parents and her brother. She used to climb out her window at night and use that lilac tree outside to get on the roof and stare at the moon.

"I didn't remember this a few months ago..." she whispered to herself, closing her eyes and letting her arms rest above her head.

Amidst the snow, Yuuko had managed to clear herself a small, clear circle to lay in. Taking the necessary precautions, she had acually bothered to wear the traditionnal Akatsuki garb; the pants and cloak and all. Something she hadn't done in a very long time.

"Then again, it hasn't snowed here in a while." Yuuko muttered to herself, shaking her head. She was definitely going crazy, and not just because of that entire child situation.

"Up here again?"

Yuuko scoffed; it seemed that whenever she was in desperate need of someone to have a decent conversation with, Ueki just popped up out of nowhere to offer her unprecendented attention.

"It's pretty much the only place where I can see the moon at night." Yuuko explain briefly, scooting over a little as to make some room for the younger kunoichi.

"...how's it like?" Ueki asked after a whil of stargazing, breaking the silence and casting a sideway glance at the older woman.

"Special." Yuuko replied, knowing precisely what the girl was talking about. "Carrying life like that... It's something I hope you'll be able to experience, someday."

Silence once again consumed the better of their time up on the roof, the metal plates slowly heating beneath them after a prolonged time lying down on them.

"You're leaving soon, aren't you?"

"Tomorrow."

-----

The next day came rather rapidly for the young mother. She was already bound to an other mission, which she was expected to carry out flawlessly. It was a rather simplistic mission that involved tracking and killing on the spot. It wasn't meant to be difficult. In fact, Yuuko had even complained about the level of it all, knowing that they had offered her something easy because of her pregnancy. Nonetheless, the kunoichi set out before dawn, towards the rendez-vous point she had been given, to meet with some man for some reason she was told he'd reveal to her.

Trudging through the snow had proven to be harder than Yuuko had first anticipated. Snow still fell slowly to the ground, sometimes appareaing as though it hung in the air because of some unforetold momentum. It was a beautiful sight, that she would admit, but seeing as her advancing and gaining terrain was hindered... She was a little resentful of the snow at the moment.  
'_What I would give for a pair of damned skis._' Yuuko thought to herself.

After a few hours of slow walking, Yuuko growled and jumped up into the nearest pine tree, ignoring the pricks of the pine needles into her skin, through the cloak. Pain and discomfort would have to be ignored if she wanted to get somewhere, anytwhere, before nightfall. And she needed to be SOMEWHERE at noon.

"Fucktards knew this would happen." Yuuko mumbled through her ample black scarf, throwing herself towards the evergreen nearest the one she was perched in, and continued her way to the check-up point in that manner, as fast as she could.

-----

"I came here for a specific reason. Not idle chat, you crippled old man." Yuuko shrugged, crossing her arms and tapping her foot on the trodden dirt road. "If you're not going to tell me why I'm here, I might as well kill you now and take whatever you have on you."

The old man laughed bitterly. For someone walking around with a cane and a bad back(and probably a greater number or illnesses than an entire country put together), he had a lot of guts denying an Akatsuki's request like that. Not only did he seem to know just _who_ Yuuko wasn, but he seemed perfectly at ease just brushing off her attitude and threats.

"Now now, let an old man gather up his thoughts, would you? It's rude to press the elderly."

Yuuko let out a shrieking groaned and turned around, ready to just kill the old dried-up raisin before someone else could have the chance to do it before her. She had been standing there for the past twenty minutes, and the stupid old rag still hadn't done anything else but wheeze and whine! Did Ikashi and the others really expect her to stand that stupid insolant attitude?!

"Now then..." the old man spoke up, making Yuuko turn around faster than she thought possible. "I'm only here to warn you, little girl. That thing you carry," here, he pointed at her already rounding belly. "isn't going to make life easier. He'll need what I'm about go give you, and so will your friends."

The old man pried open a small velvet box, in which a ring, strung to a fine leather string. Yuuko recognised it right away; it was the ring that Hitaru had constantly worn around her neck. After that sudden realisation, questions just started flowing through the kunoichi's mind. How did they get that necklace? Was it the real one? Was it a replica? Had they killed Hitaru? Had she willingly given it two this old man?

"I expect you to take good care of it. It has a store of chakra that took the better part of seventy three years to build up. Your son will be needing it."

Yuuko reached out for the velvet box, which the old man had closed prior, and hesitated a moment before taking it and carefully storing it away in her cloak. She was to kill this man now, she knew. But she had one question to ask before any blood was split.

"Where did you get this necklace?"

"A good friend of yours has taken good care of it while I was absent."

Yuuko nodded silently, narrowing her eyes at the ground. Seventy three years... Hitaru had arrived in Konoha only seven years ago. Which had meant that the old man in front of her knew who she was. Who _both_ of them were. And he knew exactly what was going on.  
'_Freaky_' she thought to herself, '_But I'm not one to argue with orders._'

The old man closed his eyes and smiled.

She almost hesitated.  
Almost.  
Somehow, Yuuko just knew that this death, as rapid and easy as it was, marked the beginning of something she wasn't going to like at all. Somehow, she just knew she didn't have much time left...

"You can come out now, Gen."

The young apprentice came out from behind one of the large pine trees, nervously scratching the back of his neck.

"You've known I was there all along?"

"I'm a frickin' S-class missin-nin. I'd have to be a moron not to notice my own student's around."

Yuuko turned around and walked past Genkaku without a word, nor a glance, and proceded to walk through the forest instead of taking the dirt road. No, it wasn't for any particular reason. Not because she thought she would be spotted, or stopped. It was because the forest seemed so much more... Safe. And something told her it was one of the few times she would ever feel safe again.


	17. ATTENTION ALL READERS!

DEAR FAITHFUL READERS,

I have to admit, I am PROFUSELY sorry that I haven't updated this story in such a long time. You see, I've been having a few problems in just about every sector in my life; family, friends, love, school... Heck, I've even been having hard times drawing, and keeping up with the several HUNDRED fanfictions I've started and never finished!

But don't worry, another installation of SaTJ is bound to be rolling by soon, since school is almost out, and that during the exam session, I'll have almost all the time I want to write. I'll try to update on other fics you might've read, too, but I'll be mainly focussing all my time and energy in this fanfiction right here, and on another one called Out Lady of Sorrows on .

Feel free to contact me and communicate any ideas or thoughts about the story; inspiration and brainstorms are always more than welcomed. Really.

You should all know I have MSN and Y!IM, so just go ahead and send me an email or IM me some time. It's always fun to talk to you guys. ;D

With many apologies and even more love,

Fye

PS- This message will be deleted when the next chapter rolls by, so hang in there, okay! LOVES YOU!


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